Wilson walked upstairs to the bedroom and knocked gently at the door before entering. He found Mary on the bed with Natalie curled up watching a re-run of their daughter's favorite cartoon program. Mary looked up at him, not budging Natalie who was nearly asleep in her arms, and stared deep into Wilson's eyes. He could plainly see that she was in the most pain he had seen her in years. He walked closer to the bed and Natalie's head turned to face him.

"Hi Dad," she said sweetly.

"Hey Nat, why don't you let Mom put you to bed. It's just about your bed time."

"Do I have to?" she asked batting her eyes. "It's just getting to the good part."

Usually, this would have worked on Wilson, and he would easily have granted her 10 more minutes, but not tonight. Tonight he really needed to speak with his wife. Wilson turned and looked at the television screen.

"How many times have you seen this one? Even I can recite the lines."

She pouted slightly. "Ok, OK, I'm going- but only if Mommy tucks me in."

"Ok, come on," Mary said as she slid off the bed.

She and Natalie left and Wilson sat down on the bed. He put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Five minutes later, Mary walked back in the room with her eyes full of tears. Wilson looked up when he heard Mary enter the room.

"Don't look at me like that," Mary warned Wilson. "You're going to make me loose it and I don't have time to loose it."

"What do you mean you don't have time? You have all night."

Mary rolled her eyes at him. "Do me a favor and go say good night to your son while I wash up? I'm really tired."

Wilson sighed, silently obliging. Inside, however, Wilson knew that this thing with Mary was no good at all. She only would say "your son" in reference to Billy when he did something bad. When he got into a fistfight at school a few years ago she had used "your son". When he stole Mary's keys and scratched her car up with them, again he was "your son". But this time, Wilson knew that this was not what Mary meant. Billy was and always will be Wilson's son, and no matter how hard she tried he will never truly be hers. The same is true about Natalie. Custody or no custody does not change cold, hard facts.

Wilson reentered the room after he saw Billy and found that Mary was not in sight. He could hear the water running, and he knew instantaneously that she was in the bathroom washing her face. He walked over and stood in the doorframe of the master bathroom. Wilson looked into the mirror, watching Mary carefully as she rubbed the washcloth over her face gently.  She noticed his presence and, seeing that he was not intending on leaving, turned around.

"Do you have to watch me?"

"No, I don't have to but-"

"Then please just go to bed," she snapped back.

Wilson smiled at her amicably and left to get ready for bed. Minutes later, Mary finished washing her face, brushed her teeth, and crawled under the cold bed sheets. She reached up, clicking off the light, before settling in for a long nights sleep. Wilson reached up and turned the lights back on, but Mary did not budge.

"Let's talk."

"I just want to go to sleep," she said on the verge of tears. "Please go to sleep."

Wilson looked at her slightly bemused. "Are you mad at me?"

Mary rolled over to Wilson's side of the bed putting a hand on his chest. "I'm not mad a you, and I'm sorry if I made you feel as if I was. I just don't want to talk to you right now."

"If that's what you want," Wilson said defeated. "But we're going to have to talk eventually."

"I know," Mary responded quietly.

Wilson kissed Mary's lips, hoping to take some of the pain away from her. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The next day, Natalie and Billy went to school as usual. Wilson had the week off, so he stayed home with Mary. He followed her around for hours, watching her clean the house and do busy work to avoid talking with Wilson. She kept telling him that they would discuss it later and no, she did not need his help with anything.

As Mary vacuumed the bedroom, Wilson devised a plan. He went into the room as she cleaned. Once she finished and turned to leave, Wilson locked his arms around Mary's waist so that she couldn't get away.

"You know," she said in an aggravated tone, "you're really starting to bug me."

Before Wilson had a chance to defend himself, the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Mary said. She unclasped Wilson's hand and went to the phone. Once the conversation began, Mary's mood changed. She looked strange to Wilson, almost as if she was going to cry. Mary barely spoke to the person on the other, only saying "yes" occasionally and "OK' before she hung up. Mary put down the phone and turned to Wilson. She didn't need to say a word to him; Wilson instinctively went over and hugged Mary. She buried her head into his chest and began to snivel like she was crying.

"Now we can talk," she said without lifting her head.

Wilson sat down on the bed and took Mary with him. "Who was on the phone?"

"Some social worker type of person. She wants to meet with us today at 12:30. I told her we would go."

"And what is going to happen at this meeting?"

Mary sighed and leaned her head on Wilson's shoulder. "We're going to discuss giving away our daughter."

Tears ran down Mary's face as Wilson squeezed Mary tightly. He didn't know what to say to make things better, and worse than that, he knew deep down that no matter what he did it wouldn't fix things. He knew last night when they talked to Ruthie that she was going to take Natalie from them, whether she deserved to have her or not.

"We never should have taken her. I feel so stupid."

"We did the right thing. Ruthie left and we were two married and capable blood relatives. There was no reason to make her go through foster care or anything like that. Anyone else would have done the same thing."

Mary finally broke down and full out cried. She knew that Wilson was right, but it didn't take away her guilt. "I wish she was mine. I've always wished she was mine. Lucy thought that she was pregnant, Ruthie was pregnant…I wanted to have a child so desperately. But then we took in Ruthie and got Natalie, so the void was sort of filled. She called me Mommy and I referred to her as my daughter. It was the next best thing, you know? But still, it hurt to have her. Just like it hurts to have Billy. I love Billy with all of my heart, and I love Nat, but they're not mine. I had no part in creating them." Mary paused for a second and wiped her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe it's just my biological clock ticking."

"Well, do you want to-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Mary looked at her watch. "We have to be there in less than 45 minutes. I'm going to finish cleaning up, then I'll get ready and we'll go. OK?"

"OK, but one thing Mare. We are going to fight to keep her, aren't we?"

"Yes," she answered plainly. No matter what anyone said, she had raised Natalie. No one deserved to take her away. She had overcome too much to have her life snatched away. Not now, not ever.

A/N: Well, thanks for the overwhelming response. A couple of you asked about the rest of the family. Short answer, both of the main characters are in the same mindset now that they were in at the end of the last story. I don't want to give too much away, because that's part of the rest of the surprise. You'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for enjoying everything that I write and for liking this little trilogy so much. I never thought that everyone would be so enthralled with it. It really means a lot to me.

Please continue to review! You're kind words and comments make me smile.