Chapter Five: 1 Year

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas. How was it?"

Michelle smiled and nodded. "Not bad. Yours?"

"Yeah, it was great. We got to watch a movie and sing carols."

"Sounds like fun."

"Yeah, kinda. Tell me more about yours."

"Well, Danny came over on Christmas Eve and he gave Zoe a toy parrot that squawks when you squeeze it, which she loves but I am sick to death of already... Your mom invited us to spend Christmas Day with them, which was good. The food was really, really good, of course, and everyone doted on Zoe, so she was really spoiled all day. Your mom said that as soon as she was old enough she would teach her to cook. Can't wait for that!"

They laughed.

"Hey," said Tony, "You remember our first Christmas together?"

"Um, yeah. We had to work until ten at night and then we went back to my place and you passed out on the couch."

"Yeah, but after that."

"Ah, you mean our first day after Christmas together." Michelle smiled wistfully. "You brought me breakfast in bed. We exchanged gifts; you bought me a ridiculously expensive pair of earring and I bought you something really boring like a tie... We eventually got dressed and went for a walk, then we went to your parents' house to enjoy whatever food they had left over from the day before... and then we went back to your apartment, made love an impossible number of times and fell asleep."

Tony nodded and grinned. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

They looked at each other and smiled. Tony realized that memories were all he would have of days like those for a very long time, and tried to stop the sadness he felt at that from showing on his face.

He found this more difficult than he had anticipated, and the smile on Michelle's face was also waning, so he decided to change the subject.

"Michelle, I wanna see her."

There, he had done it. Finally made the request he had wanted to make on every visit since his daughter had been born.

"Who?" Michelle asked, confused.

"Zoe. I want to see her, just once, just for a few minutes..." He was saying everything he could possibly think of to make her agree.

"Tony, I don't know if that's..."

"Please, Michelle. It's not against the rules, I've checked. I just... I don't want her to be just a photograph for me."

Michelle was still hesitant. Tony caught her eyes and looked into them pleadingly.

"Okay," Michelle said quietly. "I'll bring her... I'll bring her next month."

"Thank you," he whispered.