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Wilson walked out of the back door in search of Mary. He didn't have to go far. She was lying on the picnic table a few feet in front of the house. Her smiled at her beauty- her brown her cascading over the side of the table, her hazel eyes purposefully looking away from him, the tiny area of skin showing wear her shirt didn't quite meet her pants in the back- but sighed at her pain. Each time this happened, it was harder and harder to console Mary. He was running out of ideas to make her feel better.

Cautiously, he approached the table. Seeing no real apprehension from his wife, Wilson went to sit. Mary instinctively sat up a little bit then placed her head in Wilson's lap once he was seated. She stared up at his face and the dark sky next to it. She wanted to be the sky. The sky was quiet, lonely but never really alone, and never showed any emotion. Since she had lost her first baby, that was all Mary aspired to, the likes of the sky.

They sat for twenty minutes in silence. Neither one of them knew what they should be saying. Wilson put his hand atop Mary's collarbone in attempts to reach out to her. She moved his hand slightly so that it was over her heart, and then placed her own hand on top of his. He could feel her steady heartbeat; she seemed to be all right.

Three more minutes past and she sat up. This time, her head leaned against his shoulder. Wilson bent down and kissed the top of her head as Mary went to wipe her eyes.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'm trying not to, anyway." She sniveled. "This is all Lucy's fault. If she hadn't gotten pregnant, I wouldn't have had to run out of there. I just could have told them and I would have been able to stick around without giving them a chance to make their comments about me." She paused. "I bet they all feel bad for me. I bet Lucy is wining about how everything is her fault, and they're all just sitting around staring at each other in there."

She was right, but Wilson didn't want to talk about her family. "I feel sorry for you," he admitted. "And it feels wrong to feel sorry for you, but I do."

"I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me. I just...I get really scared. I always get really scared. It's hard to calm down from something like that." He caressed her back as if coaxing her to explain. "You wouldn't understand."

He squeezed her in tighter. "You think that I don't understand about being scared?"

Mary looked up into his eyes. She saw the slight hurt there, but nodded anyway. "I've been scared for years. I can't even remember a time when I went through a day when I wasn't scared. Since I became a single dad, that's all I've known. Before that even. When Billy's mother was in labor. I was scared then, and after that I was scared that I couldn't provide for Billy, and then I fell in love with you."

"That made you scared?"

"I was always scared that you wouldn't love me back." Her face drooped. "I know that you love me, but there was always that little bit of doubt. Not so much anymore, but before. And then we got married and you got pregnant..." Tears formed in his eyes and he stopped speaking.

"What?" she questioned slowly.

"I was so scared something would happen to you. I didn't sleep for days, weeks. And then when you lost the baby, and I stayed awake at night with you, it wasn't because I was staying up with you. I couldn't sleep either. I was petrified."

Mary squeezed his hand. "I didn't know that you get this scared."

"It's not important. Just…don't assume that I have no idea what you are going through all the time." He kissed her forehead. "And I want you to use me. Talk to me. I hate it when you pull away like this."

Mary nodded sullenly. She knew that she had been distant for the past few days, but that was just her way of coping with everything. It was all so hard on her. Apparently, though, Wilson wasn't having it any easier. They sat in silence for another hour as Wilson' squeezed Mary in tightly, hoping to erase all of her pain and his own. He wasn't having any luck on either front.

Kevin walked out the back door a little while later and over to them. "I was set out to apologize," he said, "but that doesn't seem quite right. At any rate, I'm sorry. Are you guys OK? We didn't mean to-"

"I know," Mary said cutting him off.

He nodded. "Everyone wants to know if they can do anything for you, myself included."

This time, Wilson spoke up. "Yeah, you can. Go inside and get Billy for us. We're going to go home. Tell everyone that we'll talk to them tomorrow or the day after."

"Sure," Kevin said and scampered off into the house.

Mary looked at Wilson and kissed his cheek lightly. "I love you." Next, she kissed his lips slightly. "I'll be in the car waiting for you guys, OK?"

Wilson agreed and Mary walked away from him. Again, she was slipping right through his fingers. As he watched her go, he was scared again. All he wanted to do was hold her and make everything in the world all right. Sadly, he knew that nothing would ever be completely OK. The trick was, he thought, dealing with that and getting through the everyday life. Once he and Mary learned how to do that, they would be set. However, that would be a difficult concept to master- like teaching an old dog new tricks.

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A/N: The whole Wilson being scared thing came from Hans the Bold. Thanks! I like the concept of this chapter but now I hate this story so I'm just wanting to put it out of its misery as soon as possible. Put me out of my misery, too- of writing a bad story and working on something my heart isn't in. Hopefully a better idea will come to be one day.

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Reviews can comfort Wilson like a childhood blanky.

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