Merci beaucoup to Star (rest assured there will be hearts-and-flowers right alongside the earth-shattering crises:), Marcher, Nora, Shelby, Natters, Marxbros, PZB, and Seletha.

This story is now going to go wherever the spirit moves me. Currently that means continuing to follow our characters as a father gets to know his son; as two people try to hold onto each other on the angst-filled path toward eternal happiness, etc., etc. We'll be answering those pesky questions about the past as we go. I meant to begin that in this chapter, but Rick and Evelyn wouldn't have it. Sometimes they just do whatever they feel like, and I can't stop them! Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes, are you?! ;) ~Buffster

it was a monday when my lover told me never pay the reaper with love only what could i say to you except i love you and i'd give my life for yours i know we are we are the lucky ones dear remember the time we made love in the roses and you took my picture in all sorts of poses how can i ever get over you when i'd give my life for yours i know we are we are the lucky ones it's time to dance time to sit here and say i know we are the lucky ones

--"lucky" bif naked

When I wake the ground below me is solid. We are no longer in the air, and the knowledge throws my equilibrium off for a few moments. I blink to clear the sleep from my eyes and realize I'm in what is likely a hotel room, brushed pink walls and cheap oak sideboards. The mattress beneath me sags, but nevertheless it is a comfortable bed for the first time in over a week. Alex is sound asleep beside me, and once again the sight of him floods me with relief. My baby is safe, he's in my arms, and finally I can feel like myself again, whole.

Well, as whole as I could have felt with one half of me missing. Another rush of joy overcomes me as I recall that I am no longer so lost; that I never again will have to feel so lonely as I lay in bed at night with nothing but shadows of the past to comfort me; that Alex will be able to come home and know where his dad is, instead of wondering his whole life why he didn't want him. I'll never have to wonder.

I kiss Alex on the forehead and leave the little hotel room in search of sustenance (when was the last time I ate?) and the rest of my family. It's a little suite of rooms, and I go through an empty bedroom before I find a little common room with a couch and a cooler and a window overlooking a port. I don't go in, though, for Jonathan and Rick are sitting at the little bar, apparently having a deep philosophical conversation.

"All I'm saying," declares Jonathan in an exaggerated (probably inebriated) whisper, "is that Cary Grant's got nothing on me. Think about it! I'm rich, infinitely more handsome, and I'm willing to bet I'm a better actor."

"I'm sure Mae West would disagree."

"Pahh!" Jonathan throws his hands up. "That was a horrible movie. I could'a done it better."

"As it is, Jon, I think a good night's sleep is in order. Not that your conversational skills aren't entertaining, but--"

I step into the room and notice Rick sits up a little straighter. "You're leaving, and I've only just arrived?" I pout. Jonathan rolls his eyes.

"Oh, please," he mutters. "I'm just in time for more mushy love crap from the couple of all mushy couples. I think I liked it better when you'd given up on each other."

Jonathan is indeed drunk, so it takes him a few moments to realize what he's said (that, or perhaps it's the uncomfortable silence that immediately fills the room). "Oh," he says. "I... I didn't mean that. I didn't mean anything. I, uh, I think I better, uh, sleep this off."

He staggers off his chair and practically sprints out of the room, slamming the door to the little bedroom in his wake. The room is overflowing with silence, screaming at me in conversation's absence to say something, anything to break it. Why doesn't Rick say anything?

I raise my eyes to his and he still doesn't speak for what seems like forever. "Are you hungry?" he says finally, suddenly, and leaps off the stool.

"Starved."

He goes to the cooler and immediately begins to pull yummy, blessed food from its depths. "Jonathan and I went to the store earlier."

"Before or after he got completely smashed?"

"Before. Where do you think he got all the liquor?" Rick places bread on the counter, meats, cheeses. "I'd forgotten how he could pack it away."

"You've forgotten a lot of things." He raises his eyebrows, and I point to the meat. "I'm a vegetarian."

Rick doesn't answer, only draws a little container labeled "hummus" from the cooler. Lettuce, tomatoes, peanut butter, blueberries, crackers... "I love you," I say. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

He grins. "Hopefully as more than a bringer of hummus," he says, and leans over the counter to kiss me. I taste berries; apparently he started in on them already.

"You taste like blueberries," I tell him, and he responds by kissing me again.

"You taste like Evelyn," he says, and I can feel the color rising in my cheeks. "You're also cute when you blush."

I concentrate on making a sandwich. "You're just pretty cute in general."

"Only in general?"

"Well..." I look up from the sandwich. He's watching me, so intently, and I never want him to look away. "You do have beautiful eyes. I missed your eyes... He has your eyes, you know."

They look away. "I know."

"When did you...know? I mean, when did you know that he was..."

Rick begins to put the food back in the cooler. "London. When you were kidnapped."

My stomach twists into a knot. He knew all along. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was waiting for you to tell me." Rick takes a bite of his sandwich. He swallows, takes another bite. I remember that I should eat, though I'm really not so hungry anymore. I force a bite down my throat. Fortunately the silence doesn't last long, though, as Rick changes the subject again. "Izzy headed back to the Magic Carpet as soon as he dropped us off. Couldn't wait to get away."

"Where are we, by the way?"

"Cairo. Next boat to Alexandria leaves in the morning."

"Oh." Doubt, for so many years a close friend, creeps into my consciousness again. "What are you...going to...do now?"

.Rick has polished off the sandwich by now, and he begins to walk slowly around the counter, toward me. "What kind of a question is that?"

"I just meant--I mean, I'm just... I..."

He's reached me now, and he takes the sandwich out of my hands, places it on the counter. "What am I going to do now? Let's see...I think I'm going to marry you. Pretty damn sure, actually. You're never going to get rid of me, babe. I'm going to move all my stuff wherever yours is and take over half your bed. I'm going to follow you on crazy archaeological digs to the middle of nowhere and keep you from waking up mummies. I'm going to get to know my son, and try and earn his forgiveness, hopefully his trust. And I was hoping I could spend the rest of my life with you. That was pretty much my plan."

"Oh." I wrap my arms around him, relieved beyond all measure. "Good."

"Evy, I know it's going to take awhile...for us to trust each other again. I know sometimes it's going to be rough. But I know that I cannot let you go again. We can get through this. We can be a family. We can be... We're going to be happy. We're going to be okay now."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

This time it's she who kisses me, and I'm nearly bowled over by the passion that her insistent lips induce. Was it always that way, or was it the passage of those eight years which built up such an explosion of feeling? Either way I don't have much time to think about it, for already somehow we've ended up on the couch, and those beautiful lips are intent on convincing mine that I really shouldn't be thinking about anything else.

"Wait," I say, momentarily pulling away. I'm a little surprised at my own words, but somehow the logical part of my brain hasn't quite been shut off yet. "Evelyn."

"What?" Her hair has fallen out of its ponytail, and her eyes have that look in them...

"Don't you think...I mean... Maybe we should wait."

Her forehead creases like it does when she thinks I'm crazy. "You were perfectly willing at Abu Simbel."

"I know, I just... I think we should do things right this time around. Besides, you know Jonathan and Alex are going to walk in. Wouldn't you rather..." I can't resist kissing her, but it's really more to prove my point than anything else. "Think about it. An actual wedding night. Just the two of us. Fancy hotel. Champagne."

"Mmm. I already tend to lose my sense of self-control around you, I don't know if you want to throw champagne into the equation."

"Ah, that's right. You don't share your brother's tolerance for alcohol."

"Certainly not." Evelyn jumps off the couch and makes for her abandoned sandwich. "It's just as well, I'm famished. So..." She comes back around to the couch and sits delicately in my lap, nibbling at the sandwich. "...when is this proffered wedding night going to take place? Sooner rather than later, I hope."

"Where do want to get married?"

She is silent, chewing on her hummus sandwich and contemplating me with serious eyes. Finally she swallows and says, "Cairo. It's where we met."

"Agreed. But not actually in the prison, okay?"

She doesn't take the teasing bait. "Okay." She chews on her sandwich some more. "There's a little church down by the market. I know the priest."

"Wonderful. Day after tomorrow okay with you?"

She gulps down the last bite of her sandwich and settles into me, her head on my shoulder. "Absolutely. So...what happens after that?"

"I think we established the whole wedding night concept earlier."

"No, I mean... After we're married. What are we going to do? Where are we going to live?"

I haven't thought about that. Why hasn't this occurred to me? Boston would be the least logical choice. We can't uproot Alex from his home, and I know Evelyn couldn't stand to leave her brother. Plus it would make no sense to always be traveling between America and Egypt.

"I know it's horrible of me to even..." she trails off. "I can't ask you to leave Boston. All your friends, your home, your business--"

"I'd leave in a heartbeat." Now she looks as though she might cry. "I will go wherever you are."

Okay, now she really is crying. Great. "Would you...move to London?"

"Do you want me to?" She nods, her tears presumably having obstructed speech. "It's the obvious choice, baby. There's nothing tying me to Boston. Everything I could ever want is within thirty feet of me right now. You, Alex... That's all that matters to me now... Besides, there's a London office."

At least this time my joke draws a smile, but she sniffles for a bit longer. "What about all your stuff?"

"I'll move it. Oh..." I don't recall Evelyn ever mentioning pet allergies, but... "Um, I sort of have a dog."

Luckily she laughs. "What's his name?"

"Addison."

"Well, Alex is allergic to cats, but we're okay with dogs." She sighs, snuggling deeper. "We have a tendency to kill gold fish, but..."

I can feel her breathing slow down, feel her relax as she drifts further into slumber. Very carefully I lift her from the couch and carry her to the little back bedroom, where our son still sleeps. I lay her down onto the bed next to him, and sit with them a moment, just watching them. I lean down and kiss my fiancé gently before standing again and leaving them to their sleep.

As I reach the door I hear Evelyn mumble something, so I turn back. "What, Evy?"

"Ham sandwich," she says, still half-asleep. "You taste like a ham sandwich."

"Good night, Evy."

~*~*~*~

Remember at the beginning when I said there were going to be eight chapters? As it turns out, I lied. More is coming:):):)