A/N: The real author's note is at the end. ;)
"Caleb and Alex Morley—will you two please hurry up? You're going to make us late for Rafe and Alison's announcement," yelled Livvie as she stood in the living room with Tara.
"What is taking them so long—you'd think it was a bunch of women getting ready, not two men," laughed Tara as she looked to see her father and brother walk around the corner.
Livvie smiled at looking at her two men and unknowingly ran her hand over her shirt, causing Caleb to smile at her, "What were you two doing in there?" she asked as he came over and took her in his arms while Tara and Alex went to wait in the hallway for them.
"Nothing," he said before placing his mouth over hers and opening his eyes to see hers twinkling back at his with love and affection. His hand grazed her stomach, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes," she said giving him one last kiss before they turned and followed their children down the hallway and off to the party.
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"Hey," said Rafe softly as he stood in the doorway to kitchen to see Alison working quickly between the stove and searching through the cabinets for something.
Alison turned and looked at him tiredly, "What took you so long? All I asked for was some paper plates and napkins—did you forget?"
"No, I didn't forget—I just took a detour," he smiled as he walked over and pinned her against the counter.
"Well, this better be some detour," she said as he pulled out a pink rose from behind his back and she gasped, "It's gorgeous Rafe," she said giving him a hug and then feeling something below the rose. She pulled back and let out another gasp as she saw the small silver charm of a child's silhouette being held on by a white ribbon, "Oh Rafe."
"When I went upstairs for the keys I saw your bracelet and realized it was time to buy another charm," he said giving her a smile as they both remembered her getting the charms with Kate and Eddie's names on it, and then later on—after Lizzie was born him giving her that charm too.
"Well, I love it—and later on tonight, after everything is done I'll show you just how much I love it," she said giving him a devilish grin and leaning up to kiss him before slipping the rose into a slender glass vase and returning to her planning.
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"I will—thank you—bye Da," said Daniel quickly as he hung up the phone and sat down next to Christina on the couch at their apartment.
"What did your Da say?" she said, giggling at the word Da—they'd been together as a couple for a month and a half now, and only living together for a few weeks so she still laughed at when she caught herself using Irish words or phrases.
"He said to tell Rafe and Alison congratulations on the baby—and happy Labor Day," said Daniel leaning in and kissing the side of her neck.
"Is that all?"
"And that I better treat you right, or when he comes to visit in December I'm in big trouble," he laughed, causing her to laugh in the process. "So are we all ready to head over to the Kovich house and hear the big news?"
"Yes, I'm so excited about finding out if I'll have a new boy or girl cousin."
"Not that you don't have enough of them already."
"I have 3 cousins and a niece and a nephew," she said firmly.
"Oh—I keep forgetting Tara and Alex are your niece and nephew and not cousins."
"Yeah, it can get complicated sometimes, but that's the fun of it," she said as she tossed a smile and headed out the door with him behind her.
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Livvie stood at the open car door and watched Tara and Alex go inside the house and Caleb almost following them before he realized she wasn't right behind him. He turned and looked at her—fear creeping up her face and took the steps two at a time to reach her in seconds, "Is everything ok?"
"I can't go in there Caleb," she said softly and staring at the ground.
"Why not? You were so excited on the ride home from the doctor's—you wanted to call Alison from the car," he said running a hand over the side of her face and watching her eyes look up at his and then close for a moment before answering his question.
"I just saw Leslie in the window, and it made me think of that night at Mario's. Jasmine was so excited about her news, and I feel like--," she said, not finishing the statement for fear of the truth it might carry.
"What? If you tell the same news on the same night that Alison announces hers then she'll somehow lose her baby?" he said looking into her eyes and seeing the answer as clear as day. "It's not going to happen—ok? We're going to go in there, tell the good news, and then we'll have a double celebration tonight," he said pulling her into a hug, knowing if he looked in her eyes he'd see tears of uncertainty.
"Are you two coming in?" called Alison from the front porch.
"Yeah, we're coming," said Livvie as she pulled out of the hug and wiped her eyes.
"Is everything ok?" asked Alison, who only received a nod from Caleb. She followed behind them and joined Rafe, who put a protective arm around her and laid his hand on her stomach.
"Tell us cousin—don't leave us in suspense," laughed Lucy.
Alison looked over to Livvie, wishing she could talk to her for a moment, but then shrugged it off and looked up to Rafe, "Why don't you do the honors?"
Rafe gave out a slight cough and smiled, "Well, luckily the newest member of the Kovich clan is going to be a boy."
"What if it was a girl?" asked Jamal.
"Well, if it had been a girl, I was worried I'd never get to use the phone again," he laughed as everyone began to cheer for the two of them.
Livvie walked over and gave Alison a hug and whispered, "I'm so happy—I can't wait for him and the newest Morley to come into the world." She pulled back to see Alison's jaw had dropped, "Are you--?"
"We found out today," spoke Livvie softly before receiving another hug from Alison. When they let go of their embrace she turned to see Caleb was now at her side and grabbed his hand tightly before speaking, "Caleb and I have some news of our own—a few months after the newest Kovich is born, Caleb and I will get to welcome a child of our own," she said as the four of them listened to the rest of their friends and family cheer and then come to congratulate them.
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"Ahh—there's no place like home," smiled Christina as her and Danny returned to their apartment—the same small apartment that Ian and Eve had shared almost twenty years ago. The apartment had gone through many tenants while Ian and Danny had been in Ireland, but somehow it was empty and ready to be lived in when Danny returned. "Isn't it strange that you somehow were able to have this same apartment from the first year of your life?"
Danny looked at her from the cabinet, but didn't speak until he had one of the coffee cups filled with coffee and was filling the second one, "I guess it's odd—but I'm really seeing it as more of a fate thing."
"Fate?" she said as she went and took a seat on the couch.
"Yeah," he said handing her the coffee cup as he came around the couch. "We live our lives day to day—thinking that we're making the decisions, but in the end it's someone bigger making the decisions, pulling us and tugging us into the direction they want us to go—where they want us to be. Sometimes we get to make our own decisions, but then in the end whoever it is up there—they get to put us right where they want us. If you accept that then you are allowing fate to run its course."
"When did you finally allow fate to run your life?"
"I think when I was accepted to med school—I knew this was what I wanted to do for a very long time, but when I was finally allowed admittance—I figured if I ended back here, at my home away from home, that then that was truly my fate."
"So what do you say about the fact that both our mother's were in the same Intern class together?"
"I think that is the completion of a circle."
Christina gave him an odd look and laughed, "If your fate wasn't to be a doctor, I could swear it was to be a poet."
Danny laughed at her and leaned in for a kiss, "Words, whiskey and medicine—those are the three things I was raised on."
"And I wouldn't have it any other way—I love you Daniel Thornhart."
Danny put down his cup on the coffee table, and took hers also and placed it next to his, before taking her face in his hands and speaking softly—his Irish accent coming out as he spoke, "And I love you, Christina Collins—finding my way back to you, through years of not seeing each other, and an ocean separating us, I still found you—I still closed the circle that was supposed to be closed, and in the end I found more joy in my life than I could have ever imagined. I was wrong—my fate isn't to be a doctor—it's to love you."
A/N: Well, it's done, I hope the ending is something you agree with--I'm not perfect, I never thought I was. I guess I want to give a few small thank you's before closing Homecoming.
Thank you to all my readers--on here and on Just Heavenly--you mean so much to me, just knowing that my story is read and enjoyed means more than I could have expected. I'm not going to get all sappy--I'll save that for the last a/n for Out of Sight. So I guess all I have to say is thank you--and until Out of Sight starts--ya'll are still the best--PCGirl.