The More Things Change …

The envelope on the seat of the carriage had told Jo and Steve, that as much as Rae and Jesse would have loved for them to make the entire journey in such a romantic fashion it would take them until Monday to get to their final destination, and so they were taken home, where they found bags packed and another letter with details on how to get to the next stop on their honeymoon.

Steve had stopped just in front of the main entrance to the house and waited for Jo to join him. She had been talking to the horse while Steve tipped the carriage driver, and so was a few moments behind him.

"Honey, you can go in, you have a key."

"I know, and I've unlocked it, but I also have a wife, and it is customary …" For a moment Steve felt incredibly embarrassed, but he carried on. "Well, I guess I'm waiting to carry you over the threshold."

"Oh, Steve, how romantic, thank you … you're not goin' to drop me like you did Rae are you?" Jo knew he was being serious, but she couldn't resist, and was delighted when, far from being cross or uncomfortable, he joined in the banter.

"Well, that was my first time carrying a lady up to her bed chamber, but I've practiced a lot since then, and I think you'll be all right!"

"Oh, ha ha." Jo put her arms round Steve's neck, and suddenly was in his strong arms. She leant in and began to kiss him, feeling the passion rising in her as she did so. As they moved into the hallway and Steve gently lowered her to the floor they saw a big red heart with a smaller heart shaped envelope attached to it.

Steve had read the note over Jo's shoulder, but now was gently kissing her neck. "What do you want to … do? The note says … that Cranberry Cottage … is booked from … first thing tomorrow morning … until Sunday night. So we could … either stay here and leave in the morning, or drive … up tonight. We'd have … to find somewhere to sleep … in the car up there … but we would have … more time at the cottage."

Jo shivered under the touch of her husband lips and moved so that she could begin to kiss him. When they finally moved apart she smiled, and ignoring what they had just done completely, began to speak. "If we sleep for a few hours now, an' then share the drivin' neither of us will get real tired. I think we should go about three in the mornin'. It's about a six hour drive; that will get us there for around nine thirty, an' then we can have the whole of tomorrow to ourselves, what d'you think?"

"Sleep? You really want to sleep?" Steve had a gleam in his eyes as he spoke and then pulled her to him once more.

"Yes, I do." Jo stopped as she saw his crestfallen face. "Honey, I know that this is our weddin' night, an' I know just what you want to do, but if we wait until we get to Cranberry Cottage then somehow it will be more special. We're married; I want the first time to be different to how it has been in the past … does that make sense?"

"If that is what you want to do, then ok, that's fine with me." Steve smiled, and he knew that even though it wasn't really fine with him that he would wait, just for one night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The journey to Monterey Bay was, as Jo had guessed, just over six hours long, and leaving at three thirty in the morning they didn't see anyone else until about six. Steve's truck had been returned, and he had driven with Jo as close to him as she dare get in the front seat watching the world wake up around them.

The directions to the cottage had been easy to follow, and just before ten Mr and Mrs Steve Sloan picked up the key from the agent and drove the final couple of miles to their destination.

"Oh, Steve, it's just beautiful." Jo looked at the almost circular cottage which had a dark tiled roof and arch shaped windows. The final few hundred yards of their journey had been down a private road, and they were now, unless they wished to be otherwise, completely cut off from the rest of the world.

"Want me to carry you over the threshold again?" Steve picked her up as he spoke, and she felt his muscular arms once more as she was taken into her own private heaven.

After exploring the cottage and having some breakfast Steve and Jo sat on the deck looking out at the ocean. The sands of Monterey Bay were stretched out on either side of them, and if they wanted it was just a short journey down a set of steps to the beach below.

"So, what do you want to do?" Steve looked at Jo; she was lying back on a lounger, her long legs emphasized by the high cut of her bathing suit, her eyes closed against the sun, completely relaxed.

"Nothin', I want to do absolutely nothin'." Jo didn't move, or open her eyes as she spoke.

"You weren't planning on eating then, because apart from the breakfast things there is no food in the place, and I don't think I can call out for barbeque!"

Jo opened one eye and looked at him. "So, I guess I'm goin' shoppin' then, that's what you mean isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is really." Steve leant over and taking both Jo's hands in his he pulled her upright, and then began to gently kiss her, running his fingers through her hair and breathing in the scent of her sun block.

"I'll just get changed then; you go an' work out what you would like for dinner." Jo moved away from him, knowing that by the time they went to bed he would be glad that he had waited.

The day moved on, the shopping was done, they had lunch in a small intimate restaurant overlooking the bay, and then they went shopping for Mark, Rae and Jesse, to get thank you gifts for all they had done for them. After that they just enjoyed each other's company, lying on the sand or sitting making casual conversation and watching the few other people who were about on such a beautiful Friday afternoon, and then they walked hand in hand along the beach, talking about many things, their hopes and fears for the future, their friends, family, and just how wonderful their wedding had been. As they moved back up the steps towards the cottage the sun was beginning to sink and the sky was a beautiful mix of reds and oranges. Steve and Jo stopped at the top of the steps and looked back over the path they had just trod; it had been a peaceful and romantic start to the rest of their lives.

Jo headed for the bedroom shortly after ten, and Steve could hear the shower going for a little while, and then his wife singing as she got herself ready for bed. Steve went into the room, but she was nowhere to be seen, and he knew that she was in the dressing room that was also part of the bedroom suite. He let the water beat down on his back as he took his own shower, and realised just how glad he was that he had been persuaded to wait and treat tonight as their wedding night.

As Steve climbed onto the big four-poster bed with white lace curtains that hung down at each corner, he realised that Jo had been waiting for him to be there before she came in.

As the door to the dressing room opened Steve thought that his heart would stop. Jo's hair fell down over her shoulders in soft waves, just as he liked it, but it was what she was wearing that made him gasp.

"My God, Jo, you look … stunning." Steve knew that whatever words he used they wouldn't be enough. Jo had on a full length metallic gold coloured gown with a cowl neck. It was completely sheer, and Steve could see almost every inch of her magnificent body as she moved slowly and sensuously towards the bed.

"Thank you, kind Sir, now you know why I wanted you to wait." Jo stood next to the bed, and could see the effect she was having on her husband. She took him by the hand, pulled him to his feet and began to kiss him with a passion and desire that took him by surprise. Her hands ran through his hair, and as Steve began to do the same the material she was wearing rubbed against his nipples causing them to harden and made him let out a moan of pleasure.

Slowly Jo pulled back from his kiss and touch, she gently pushed him down onto the bed and began to plant small kisses across his shoulders, down onto his chest, and then she rubbed his nipples again, this time with her fingers, which resulted in a deeper moan from him.

"Oh, God, Jo …" Steve couldn't really speak, and although he wanted to touch her, to reciprocate, give her some of the pleasure she was giving him, he just lay there, helpless under her hands and tongue. When she gently ran a finger over his erection through his shorts Steve thought he would explode and he lifted his hips so that she could remove his clothing, and then he lay, naked before her, his eyes half closed and his heart beating wildly.

Jo looked at the man she had married, a shiver ran through her, and her hands began to play with his erection, then she ran her tongue over its head and saw Steve's hands clench into fists as he tried to keep himself under control. With a smile Jo stood up and, very slowly, with her eyes on him the entire time, began to take off her gown, slowly lifting it up so it showed her body gradually from her ankles to her neck and as she finally removed it and let it fall in a heap on the carpet Steve reached up and pulled her down onto the bed next to him, and then his mouth was over one of her nipples, his tongue darting back and forth, and now it was she who was moaning, and arching her back so that her body met with his. Steve moved his hands down and slid them down the sides of the metallic gold coloured panties that she still had on. As he carefully took them off he ran his fingers through the curls that were exposed and Jo let out a gasp.

They played and teased, bringing each other to the edge of ecstasy time and again, until as Jo was sucking and nipping at his manhood with her tongue and her teeth Steve knew that he had to have her, "Jo, Honey, let me take you, now." She didn't need to be asked twice, and in a movement that increased his passion even more Jo turned from him and grasped the rail at the end of the bed. Steve entered her from behind and soon their cries were mingled, and, as the waves crashed to the shore outside their window, they came together, their orgasms coming in wave after wave of their own making, until finally they fell together onto the bed and slept in each others arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the excitement of Steve and Jo's wedding everybody returned to their everyday lives, a little happier, a little more at peace with the world, because of the wonderful time they'd had, and the fact that it was clear that marriage had only strengthened the bonds that Jo and Steve felt for each other, as their love grew by the day.

Rae had travelled to London to help organise her son's wedding, and then two months later she, Jesse and Eliana had gone back and watched as John and Sophie became man and wife, which, Rae told Jesse was impossible because he was still her baby.

In between the two visits to England Rae finally went to The Willows, and found the place to be all that she wanted and more. Jesse, although missing her terribly, realised that with Eliana back at Sally's he could relax and enjoy his job and his life, knowing that his wife really was safe and in a place she wanted to be. He also realised that Rae had been right, he had changed, a lot, since their marriage, and he vowed to try and be the same happy relaxed man he used to be when she returned. It hadn't been easy first of all, but after a few weeks when he could see that she was well on the road to recovery they found that they were enjoying their life together as much as when they had first met.

Jesse knew that if he were to write a memory book of the time from after Steve's wedding to just before Rae's return to work there would be two recollections that he would want to be there above all other, the first was a phone call he had received from The Willows, and the other was when he became a father for the second time.

Rae had stipulated that there would be no contact between Jesse and her apart from e-mail. Not because she didn't want to speak with him or hear his voice, she did, but she was sure that if she did talk with him she would be begging him to come get her, and she knew that she had to stay there for as long as it took for her to get better. So when Jesse was called to the phone in the ER one afternoon while he was talking with Steve about the appearance of yet another body part the last person he expected it to be was his wife.

"Doctor Travis… Rae? Honey, is that you…?" Jesse shut his eyes for a moment, he had missed her so much, the last three weeks had seemed like an eternity, and he felt his throat constrict, and tears threaten to spill. With a deep breath he asked a question and hoped it wouldn't have a negative answer. "Are you all right…? What, Oh, Rae, that's just wonderful … no, no, of course, I don't mind, I've missed you so much … yeah, I got it, and I read it all the time … Rae, you know I'll be there … I will, and Rae … I love you… bye, Sweetheart… yeah, bye … I know, bye."

Jesse had put the phone down, his head swimming with the news she'd given him as well as the surprise of her being on the phone in the first place. Steve had stood there regarding his friend anxiously for the length of the call, and now he couldn't hold his curiosity in any longer.

"Jess, is she all right?" Steve watched as he just nodded. "What, what is wonderful?"

"She had the sensory test done this morning? You know where they pinch her nails?" Jesse could see that Steve had no idea what he was talking about. "It tests the nerve responses, if it hurts then that is a positive reaction, if it doesn't hurt, or if, as in Rae's case, you can't feel it at all, then that is a negative reaction. She has always had feeling in her right hand, but today the left hand hurt just as much." Jesse stopped talking, the realisation of what had happened hitting him once again.

"Which means what?" Steve's voice was hopeful now; he missed her and wanted her back.

"It means that it ties in with Doctor Tammai's explanation that if it is just a neuropraxia, and that seems likely as she can feel the sensory tests, then she should get full movement back in both arms." Jesse couldn't talk any more, and for a few minutes both men were silent as they thought about what Rae's life would be like if she recovered. Then as they walked back towards the doctor's lounge Jesse had spoken again.

"You know, after she left for The Willows, I found Rae's pain diary. She kept it in a little book in the nightstand, and as she only had one page left to go, she took a new one with her. Steve, I don't think any of us realized just how much pain she was in, or how strong willed and determined she was, never taking anything that might harm her baby. She wrote that every movement was like a red hot fire, and that she was never, for a second, able to forget her injury, even though initially she couldn't remember how she got it." Jesse turned for a moment. "It made me cry when I read it."

Steve recognized what Jesse was saying for what it was, and just for a moment rested his hand across his friend's shoulders. "But if these tests prove what you hope they prove, she won't be in that position for much longer, Jesse, she was positive, and happy, you can't ever let her know that you read her book."

"I know, Steve, and I won't, but I just had to tell someone."

They hadn't talked about it any more, but Jesse relived the telephone conversation in his mind over and over until Rae came home. Not just the news but the sound of her voice, the way she spoke, her half American, half English accent, all were part of her, and he loved and missed her. He just wanted her to come home.

The birth of Rae and Jesse's second child had none of the panic about it that Eliana's had. In fact this baby was exactly the opposite, and showed no interest in being born at all. In the end when Rae was two weeks over her due date Alex had said that she would have to be induced. The threat seemed to do the trick, and the following morning Jesse was woken up by Rae who was obviously in pain, and trying very hard not to show it.

"Jess, Honey, wake up." Rae's voice was low so that she didn't wake their daughter.

"Mmm, what is it, Rae? Are you all right?"

"No … no, I'm not." Rae stopped talking, and Jesse, suddenly realizing what was happening, opened his eyes to see her begin to ride the pain of a contraction.

"It's ok, Honey, breathe, keep breathing, that's it, take my hand if you want to, there, does that help?" Jesse just kept talking, nothing words, stringing them together hoping they would mean something, and gradually the pain subsided again. "Do you know how far apart they are?"

"Yeah, about two minutes." Rae lay back on the pillow, her right hand still holding tightly to Jesse's.

"Ok, I'm gonna call Sally and she will come here, then I'll get onto Alex, and we'll leave for the hospital as soon as Eliana is taken care of."

Rae had just nodded, and Jesse became aware that she had been in labour for a while. Her hair was plastered to her head, and her face was flushed with the exertion. Once he'd made his calls Jesse had returned to the bedroom, to find Rae on her feet, trying again not to call out. "Jesse, my waters are gonna break, arghhhhhhh." Rae couldn't keep the cry in any longer, and grasping her hand Jesse gently rubbed circles on her back, knowing that he would deal with the carpet problems later.

Once that had happened the labour proceeded in almost textbook style. They had arrived at the hospital when the contractions were one minute apart, and fifteen minutes after arriving in the labour room Jesse and Rae had two beautiful daughters.

The little girl was a fair haired beauty right from the start, her eyes were already a dark blue, and her hair was blonde and just like her daddy's although there wasn't that much of it. She had a loud cry, and was permanently hungry, she was also awake continually, and Jesse and Rae were in no doubt that their family had just increased in size.

They had named their second daughter Anneya, which they had found in the same way as Eliana, by searching through names on the internet. Unfortunately, there was no meaning for Anneya, but they had both thought it a beautiful name and so had decided that it didn't matter.

Amanda, Ron and Mark had happily agreed to become godparents this time around, and soon the Travis household was happy being four, even if it meant that Rae and Jesse didn't get the amount of sleep they really needed any more.

As the summer turned into autumn and Anneya turned four months old, Rae began to get ready to return to work. She had made an excellent recovery from her injuries, and apart from the odd twinge when she moved without thinking, Rae was almost her old self again.

As had happened after Rae had been attacked and left in a coma, she was starting by going into the station for a few hours a day, and doing paperwork until she had passed her driving and shooting exams and was able to return to the streets.

The Chief had walked through the squad room on her second day back and watched for a while as Rae's fingers flew across the keyboard, while she typed up one of Steve's reports on the 'bits and pieces' case as she called it. The body parts hadn't been coming as regularly as they had at the beginning of the case, but there seemed to be a pattern of sorts to their appearances.

There had been a female femur left, once again in a car, this time parked in a side street in Venice Beach. Steve had been on his honeymoon for that one; Ben Chapman had taken the call, and then gratefully handed it over to Steve as soon as he returned. After that everything had been quiet for almost a month, and then a hand, minus the fingers had been found. That was in a trash can in a small park just off PCH on a Wednesday morning, and if it hadn't been for the note that accompanied it, Steve might have missed it.

When Rae had finished the typing, and was sitting reading through the printed version she saw a shadow fall across her desk, and looking up, jumped to her feet. "Sir."

"Sit down, Detective." The Chief had smiled, and Rae had known she was in big trouble. "You seem to be very proficient on a keyboard."

"Thank you, Sir, I used to be a secretary in a bank a long time ago, and I've always loved to type. I like the neatness of it, the order it brings to an untidy page of writing."

"Detective, I have to get back to my office, would you walk with me?" Chief Masters moved away from Rae's desk as he spoke and she knew that 'no' wasn't an option. As Rae stood up she knocked a picture frame to the floor, and her boss bent to pick it up. The picture was of Eliana and Anneya sitting in their jogging stroller, when Anneya had been two months old and Eliana twenty-one months. As he put the picture back down the Chief smiled again, "You have beautiful children, Detective."

"Th … thank you, Sir." Rae gazed at the man, she had never understood why people thought that he was cold and inhuman, he had always been exactly the opposite with her, but even she had to admit to being amazed at his interest in her daughters. Rae quietly followed the Chief into his office, stopping only to smile at Cecily, his secretary, on the way through.

"Please take a seat, Rae; I would like to talk to you, about your future with the LAPD."

Rae's heart sank to her feet; she was going to get fired. With a tremor in her voice she thanked him as he indicated which chair to sit in, and then waited for the axe to fall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By the time Rae got home after picking up her daughters from Sally her mind had finally quietened down. Eliana was now almost two years old, and still as happy and sunny as ever. She had moved through the period when she only wanted her mommy, which seemed to have reached it peak while Rae was at The Willows. She only found out later just how close Jesse had come to calling and begging her to come home. Eliana would cry and cry, and nothing or no one could calm her. Eventually she would fall into an exhausted sleep, but that was the only way she would stop crying.

That stage seemed to have passed now, and her latest habit was calling her mommy and then saying nothing, and it was driving Rae nuts.

It wasn't until the two girls were both asleep in bed, and Rae was sitting in the family room waiting for Jesse to come home from a late shift before she had a chance to think about what the Chief had talked about with her earlier in the day.

By the time she arrived back at the station in the morning, Steve had to share his 'secretary' with his boss. Cecily was retiring at the end of the week, and although the Chief had a replacement already hired, she couldn't start for another month. Rae wasn't due to start active duty again for another four weeks, and so the two things seemed to work well.

Cecily spent the morning going through everything that Rae had to do, how to work various computer programmes, answer the phone, who to put through, who not to. And by lunchtime Rae was ready to at least try to do an efficient job while she was there. The only good thing about it was that she would be working nine to five, Monday to Friday. Of course it would be even better if she had a husband who worked the same hours, but she didn't.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rae was about half way through her month with the Chief and just returning his coffee cup to the office after washing it when she saw Alex walking down the hallway in front of her. She hadn't seen her doctor since Eliana's eighteen month check up, and even though she loved him dearly that suited her just fine, the longer she could keep away from Community General the better.

"Alex, what are you doing here? Not an unpaid parking fine!" Rae smiled at the young man and moved closer to him.

"No, thank goodness, I'm here to see Steve… How've you been, Rae?" Alex looked at her and could tell that life was treating her well. Her left arm was no longer hanging uselessly by her side, or bent up in his brace, the spark was back in her eyes, and she looked wonderful.

"Fine, I'm almost afraid to say it, but life is good right now. How about you?"

"Yeah, I'm the same. I have more patients now, people who want to be on my list, it's what I always wanted to do and I'm doing it, sometimes I have to pinch myself, y'know?"

"I do, because I was the same when I joined the force in London. I'm glad, Alex, really glad. And Shannon is she ok?"

"Yes, fine, we're thinking of renting a place together, but I don't want to leave Mark alone, and she thinks that her mom still needs her."

Rae smiled, and placed a hand on his arm. "You have plenty of time, Alex, but you have to be selfish sometimes, and do what you want."

The two friends stood there for a moment, then Alex mentally shook himself, and smiled at Rae. "I'd better go see Steve, he's expecting me."

Rae watched him walk away from her and then she turned and headed back to the pile of papers that was waiting for her. Rae hadn't been lying when she said she enjoyed typing, she had always found it very therapeutic, and had a great sense of fulfilment when she finished a piece of work to the satisfaction of her boss.

Rae had heard that Chief Masters wasn't the easiest man to work for, and Rae found that she had to be on her toes the entire time, but when Anneya kept her up half the night it wasn't easy. He was a perfectionist, which hadn't surprised her, but what had was the fact that, contrary to belief, he did actually eat, quite large amounts, but was absolutely paranoid about being seen. Rae had learnt to field phone calls and visits during the period that the Chief was considering eating, and so far nobody knew about his perceived transgression. Rae had no idea why he felt so uncomfortable about being seen to eat, after all it was something he obviously did, or he would be long dead, but knew that it wasn't her place to mention it. If the door to the Chief's office had the blind down, Rae knew that he was eating his lunch. This was the case when Rae returned to her office, and, as she sat down with a smile, she began to look over the three pages of neat but tiny hand written figures that he required her to turn in to a well presented proposed budget for the station over the next six months.

Once Rae knew how to lay out her figures she got herself an herbal tea and then for a moment let her mind wander. She was having a great time working in this office, and only the lure of being a full time cop again was keeping her from wanting to remain here always.

At the end of the first day that she had started working on her own the Chief had called her into his office and asked her to sit down.

"Well, Detective, and am I as bad as they say I am?" The Chief had a twinkle in his eye, and Rae had smiled at him.

"Oh, no, Sir, you're a pussy cat, I've worked for far harder task masters than you, if you'll excuse the expression!" Rae had laughed then as she realised what she had said, and the Chief had joined in too.

"Why do I get the feeling that it may be I that is to be kept on my toes far more than you?"

"Apparently, Sir, I have that affect on people." Rae unexpectedly realised that the respect that she had for this man was partly due to the fact that she liked him, and suddenly the prospect of a type of friendship was available to her.

"Go home, Rae, I'll see you tomorrow." The Chief stood as he spoke, and she had done the same. Somehow after that they had got into the habit of spending the last five or ten minutes of each day together, and that was definitely something that she knew she would miss when her time here was through.

Rae shook her head to bring herself back to the tasks in hand, and then with a smile she began to enter the first set of figures onto the table she had created, the neatness and rigidity of their formation pleasing her once again.

As Alex walked into the squad room he could see that Jo was sitting the other side of Steve's desk and he stopped short of his target. Steve saw him and waved him over. "Hey, Alex, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Steve, Jo, you're looking wonderful." Alex bent to kiss her on the cheek, and she marvelled at how the shy young man had matured under the careful eye of Shannon Farley.

Alex pulled up the chair from Rae's desk, which was looking a little clearer and more like its owner liked it these days. As he did so he saw Cheryl walk over to her desk with a coffee and waved a hand at her, and his greeting was returned.

"So, Alex, what can I do for you?" Steve put his pencil down; he didn't want his young friend to think he wasn't taking his visit seriously.

"It's Daniel."

"Daniel…? Oh yeah, the kid from the store. It's been a while, how's he doing?"

"Not good. He was fostered out, but he hates it, they don't like him, and he is gonna have to go into a home …" Alex stopped talking and waited.

"Oh, what a shame, last time you were talkin' about him he was doin' so good." Jo felt compassion for the young boy. They had learnt quite a bit about him from Alex who had become a very good friend to Daniel and spent many hours with him.

"I wanted to foster him myself, but … well my shifts are a problem, and Shannon's are too, and I'm living with Mark, and that's not fair and …" Alex ran out of words.

"Alex what do you want me to do about it?" Steve looked at the young man and could see that, for the first time in a long time, he was beginning to blush.

Suddenly Steve realised, "Alex, no. Absolutely no way, we've only been married five minutes; he'll just have to take his chances with the rest of them."

"Steve, he was in that store because he was taking his chances with the rest of them. He has tried, really tried, to pull himself together, get back on track, but it will all be for nothing if he has to go into a home."

"Honey, now isn't the time to talk about this, Alex, it's a bit of a bombshell, let us think it over for a couple of days, ok? An' we will, I promise you that." Jo placed her hand on Steve's arm. She could see just how much Daniel meant to Alex, and wanted to help if she could, she just needed to bring Steve around to her way of thinking.

"I can see something of me in him, Steve," Alex explained. "I was a wild child in school, but I had a mom and dad who loved me and made me realise just what I would be throwing away, and I ended up in medical school, and my life is good now, but it could have been so different, and I don't want Daniel to fail because of me."

"Alex …" Steve stopped talking. He knew that whatever he said right now would come out wrong, and he also knew that he was gonna have to talk the whole thing over with Jo as soon as he got home.

Steve had been right. He parked his truck, locked up the garage for the night and moved through the laundry room into the kitchen. As he did so he could hear Jo on the phone in the hallway, and sensing that it was a business call had gone up to take a shower.

"Mrs. Landash, don't worry about it … No, I know, but you have always been a first class tenant, an' we can waive that … Ok, I'll see you at Sholte's in the mornin' an' we'll sign the papers … No, I'll miss seein' you around too, but I understand why you have to go … Ok, bye now." Jo put the phone down; she wasn't at all bothered that she was losing Mrs. Landash as the tenant of one of the homes she rented out.  In fact as a plan began forming in her mind to maybe sell the property she couldn't be happier. She picked up the phone again and began to dial.

"O. Yana."

"Eliana, no, Honey, Mummy has to answer the phone… Hello? Ah, Travis residence… Oh, Texas, hi … yeah, I'm gonna have to put it on a shelf or something. She just loves it… That would be lovely, I take my break from one to two, well, I do if I have someplace to go, which normally I don't… Yeah, I'll meet you in the entrance way."

Rae put the phone down and turned to her daughter who was standing, her lip a mile out in a pout and crouched down beside her. "Honey, you mustn't answer the phone, ok …? I tell you what, if it rings, why don't you come get me? Then Mummy can answer it."

"K." Eliana was instantly appeased, she understood a lot of what her mother was saying, even though she couldn't respond to it all, and so she turned and wandered back to the game she had been playing in the hallway.

Jo chuckled to herself as she walked up the stairs. She loved to hear her goddaughter's voice on the phone, and the little girl just loved using it. When Eliana first picked it up and heard a voice the other end she hadn't been able to respond, and Rae had told Jo that she just stood with a bemused look on her face, and then picked it up even when it didn't ring, just in case someone was there. But now that she had words to express herself, she babbled into it incessantly, and the joy was evident in her voice, every time she did so.

Jo walked into her bedroom and sat on the bed. She had planned to talk to Steve about another subject tonight, but figured that Alex's was more pressing. She had been turning out a closet in one of the attic rooms, which hadn't been touched since her grandmamma had passed on, when she had found a suitcase with her name on it.

She hadn't opened it, wanting to share its contents with Steve, and had hoped to do that this evening, with a sigh she ran her fingers through her hair, separating a section which she began to braid absentmindedly as she waited for her husband to come out of the bathroom.

"Hey, I thought I heard you come in, are you alright? I hoped you might have joined me." Steve came into the room, wearing nothing but a smile and moved over to kiss her tenderly on the cheek.

Jo looked up at him, the muscles of his chest shiny from the shower, and smelling wonderful. She buried her face into his skin for a moment, kissing it gently and then she looked up and smiled. "I guess we need to talk don't we?"

"No, there are other things I would much rather do."

"Mmm, well, I can see that, but right now, you are gonna go get some shorts on, an' we are gonna talk."

With a shrug of his shoulders Steve turned and grabbed a pair out of his drawer, then he came back and climbed onto the bed, leant back against the wall and looked over at Jo. "Ok then, you go first. I know what you are going to say, but you can go first."

"I just hate it when you do that."

"Do what?" Steve looked at her, innocence shining out of his blue eyes, and she believed none of it.

"When you tell me what I was gonna say. Ok, did you think I was goin' to say that I spent the afternoon in the attic?"

"Oh, no, I didn't, sorry."

Jo laughed, "That's ok, I wasn't gonna say that, I did, go in the attic I mean, but I wasn't goin' to mention that just yet. Steve, I want to offer to foster Daniel."

"I knew it, I knew that was what you were going to say." Steve rested his arm along the top of the headboard and Jo moved up the bed and snuggled up beside him.

"Steve we have so much to offer, an' he just needs all of it. Love, a comfortable home, someone who is here all the time, day an' night to give him security. He would have a wonderful role model in you, access to Alex whenever he wanted it. He could go to school just down the road, it would be perfect."

"Yeah just perfect. We have been married a little under a year, we have no children of our own, and you want to bring someone else's in here instead."

"No, Steve, not instead, maybe as well as, but not instead." They had been trying for a baby for about three months, but so far nothing had happened. Jo was trying not to think that her experience with Wayne would be her only chance to be a mother, but some days it was easier to dismiss than others.

"And what if he gets in trouble with the law again? Or gets in with the wrong type of kids? Maybe drugs, or drink, what then?" Steve looked at her, and he could tell that nothing he said was going to persuade her that this was a bad idea.

"Then we would help him sort himself out again. Like parents are supposed to. Steve, I lost my mamma an' papa when I was five years old. I had grandmamma, but she was a starchy old lady, she loved me, but there was always somethin' missin' you know?"

"But you turned out ok." As soon as Steve said it he knew he was wrong.

"No, Honey, I didn't turn out ok, not until I met you, an' found someone to love me for what I was, an' saw what I could be. Steve, you saved me from an existence that I can't even begin to imagine. I thought I would be single my whole life, that Michael an' I would rattle around this big ol' house for ever an' a day, an' when we passed on nobody would even notice we were gone…" Jo paused and wiped a tear from her eye. "But now … now, I have a family, friends who love me an' would miss me if I was gone. I have a purpose in life, Steve, I want to do that. I want to do that for Daniel."

"Honey, you haven't even met the guy, and I only saw him as he was shipped away to juvie, hell, he could be an axe murderer for all we know… And whatever he is, he's gonna just love having a cop for a foster parent."

"An' an ex-cop, but that doesn't matter, it's not what we do, or did that matters it's what we can provide for this boy, the love, the care, an' the stability." Jo leant into his arms. She didn't have anything left to say, and she had no idea if what she had said was enough or not.

"Ok, I'll get onto his social worker in the morning, make enquiries and we can arrange to go see him, but just see him, nothing is decided." Steve kissed her head, hoping that the subject was closed, but however much he wanted to believe otherwise, he knew in his heart that everything was very much decided.