From the kitchen, Mary could here a bunch of voices coming from the foyer- definitely more than just one or two. Before she started whimpering like a baby, she decided to finally be adult about the situation. Taking a deep breath, Mary walked out of the kitchen and to the foyer. When she saw who had just entered her home, her mature attitude started to falter. She was scared- scared of Lucy, Kevin, Annie, Eric, the twins, and even Lucy and Kevin's children.

When Mary started her way to her family, the room was filled with happy sounds- talking, laughter, greetings. Once Mary came out of hiding and was finally spotted, the room went deadly silent. That in itself hurt Mary more than Wilson inviting everyone over behind her back. When the silence came upon them, Mary froze. She didn't know what else she should do. Wilson, being the understanding husband that he is, walked over to Mary and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Go ahead," she whispered so only Wilson could hear her, "put your hands there. That's the most action you'll be getting from me for at least a month, maybe two."

Wilson laughed at Mary, relishing in the small dose of humor she had sent his way. Most of the time, he was able to get inside of Mary's head. He was very good at picking her apart and dissecting her emotions, almost to the point that he was feeling everything she was feeling exactly the way she was feeling it. This situation, however, was too complex for him to break down. Wilson knew his limits and decided not to even bother. The only thing that bothered him with that was that he felt so disconnected from Mary. He hated when they were out of sync. She was so predictable in his eyes, and although she still was it was not the same that day.

The thing that was pulling them apart was fear. Fear of the future and fear of the unknown. Fear of not being able to survive this. Fear of their own lives.

"Hello Mary," Eric said finally breaking the uncomfortable stillness.

Mary said nothing, unsure if that was out of choice or out of lack of strength. Wilson nudged her and she turned to face him. Her eyes caught his and he turned away. If he could not analyze her emotions, he would always have her body language to fall back on. He was fluent in Mary's purposefully motions and gestures. Right now, Mary was telling him that there was no way she was going to say "hi" back.

Thirty more seconds of silence passed. "So…" Wilson said. No one said a word. "Why don't we all have a seat and maybe we can talk?"

Surprisingly, there were almost enough couches for everyone. Only Matt and Kevin were left standing next to their respective wives after everyone took their seats. Mary clutched Wilson's forearm tightly. He turned to look at her and this time he could plainly see that she was hurting.

"I can't do this," she told him, pleading with her eyes.

"Maybe not, but you're going to have to," Wilson said. "Do it for Natalie Mare." He really knew how to pull on her heartstrings. She always hated when he did that. "At least be pleasant."

Tears formed in Mary's eyes but she quickly dabbed them away. There was no way that she going to let them get the best of her. She knew that she was stronger than this, but she felt so hopeless today. Mary leaned her head on Wilson's shoulder and her ran his fingers through her hair lightly. "Pleasant," she finally said, "I can be pleasant. Just…promise you won't leave me. Stay right here and I might be OK."

"I would never leave you," he whispered. "You know that."

Mary nodded. She did "know that", but she was still having a hard time believing it. One thing she has learned from her life is that nothing is set in stone. You think things will go one way, but they make a sharp right turn toward the wrong part of town. Certainty is an illusion. It is just something we convince ourselves so that we can keep on going.

A/N: Sorry it took so long and this is so short, but schoolwork comes first. Also, I'm having a hard time getting my ideas down. This chapter is very jumbled and uses a lot of $25 words and phrases that mean nothing. I'm just busy and bored with this. Don't worry, it will get finished, just not quite sure when right now.

New chapter, which is not yet written at all, should be up by September 19th. That's after all of my projects are due and a Friday. That is my promise I am making to all of you. If you don't get it then, I will have a very good reason for you all and a present.

Please review. It means so much to me.