AN - Thank you for the wonderful reviews so far, I apreciate them so very much. I've been in remission for a little while but I'm back with this here chapter. I don't own the song 'This Lullaby' By Queens of the Stone Age but I felt that it fit the purpose. Daria x

Old Face

Vince closed the door to his room as a sound caught his attention. He walked down the hallway and into the living room, cocking his head and smiling at what he saw. Mia was sitting on the couch, feet outstretched and resting on the coffee table before her. Leon was sat beside her; his head swooped down towards the bump of her stomach. He was singing.

'Where oh where have you been my love. Where oh where can you be. It's been so long since the moon has gone, andoh what a wreck you made me...' Mia was smiling and giggling occasionally as the big man sang in his gravely tone. She ran her hand through his hair and he looked up at her, kissing her cheek.

Vince left the happy couple to it as he wandered into the kitchen in search of breakfast. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee, sitting down at the table to read the newspaper as he ate. He was soon joined by Letty, who poured some coffee for herself and sat down beside him. He smiled at her and went back to reading the paper.

'You see those two out there?' Letty asked amused, sipping from the hot liquid.

'Yep. Who woulda thought Mia and Leon huh?'

'I know...You've been back almost a year now but has anyone asked you if you're okay with it?'

'They haven't, but I am. They're happy, so I'm happy,' he replied, setting his spoon down in his now empty bowl.

'Well I'm proud of you V. If it had happened three years ago we all know there would've been a fight – no matter who she was with.'

'I know but I was stupid back then. Well I still am stupid but I know that I love her like a sister and Leon is my best friend.' Letty nodded her head, placing her hand on top of Vince's. 'Things are okay now.'

'They are,' she replied. Vince placed his other hand on top of hers, gazing into her eyes. 'What?' She enquired.

'And you're happy?'

'There was a time when I hated him so much for what he did to us V,' she looked at his hand on hers and sighed, looking back into his blue eyes. 'But now I've moved on and I've got Danny. He makes me happy which is something I didn't have with Dom. We loved each other but I think our passion got in the way of that. A lot.'

'Yeah, I think it did. You're both very passionate people – when it comes to love and fighting you two are on the same par,' he laughed.

'But you're the same way V.'

'Not really, I'm just stubborn and there's a difference. But I had to put that aside, you know? I wouldn't have survived these past few years if I had stayed how I used to be.'

'You may not have but here you are…And we're all glad of it. I – we all missed you when you were gone. You have no idea what it was like after they took you…Mia was a wreck. Her brother was gone, Jesse had practically died in her arms and then you…'

'I'm sorry,' he sighed, staring down at the newspaper before him.

'No, it's not your fault. As much as I hate to admit it, it was nobodies fault. We couldn't have known what was gonna happen and it took me so long to realise that. I blamed Dom for everything – all of it. For getting us into the heists when we could've said no. For letting Brian into our home when none of us, bar you, guessed that he was a cop. For getting Jesse killed when it was all on Tran. Nobody is to blame.'

Vince looked up and shared a long moment with Letty in silence. They both knew she was right even if it meant putting their pride behind them. In the past ten minutes they had seen a different side to each other – the two supposed hot-heads of the team were having an in depth discussion about feelings. Things had changed.

'Ya know Letty, you are right. I admire you for being able to see that,' he smiled.

'Yeah well it took me damn long enough boy,' she smiled back, hugging the bigger man before going back to her coffee. 'Well that was weird.'

'True, I feel kinda gay now. Next thing ya know, I'll be painting my toenails and wearing rubber pants,' he quipped, as he and Letty cracked up laughing.

'What are you two laughing at?' Leon asked as he entered the kitchen.

'Not a thing daddy,' Letty replied, causing another chuckle from Vince.

'I've told you, stop calling me that.' He grabbed Letty round the neck and gave her a monkey scrub, before kissing the top of her head. Walking over to the fridge, he poured a glass of Orange juice and took it back in the living room for Mia.

'He's gonna make a good dad,' Letty watched after him wistfully and Vince raised his eyebrows.

'Could it be? The soon to be Mrs. Danny Dominguez is feeling broody?'

'No,' she defended, slapping his arm as he laughed. 'I'm just happy for them both.'

'I'm just playing pretty lady.'

Leon re-entered the kitchen, grabbing his car keys and turning to the two at the table. 'Vince, we gotta go get that thing.'

'What thing?'

'That thing.' Leon replied, looking at Vince and indicating that they should leave. Letty looked questioningly between the two men and Vince shrugged, getting up and placing his pots in the sink.

'Later Let,' Vince called as Leon practically dragged him out of the back door. They both got in the pick-up truck and Leon skilfully backed out of the driveway. 'So what thing are we goin' to get?'

'The rocking chair I told you about. Mia saw it a while ago and thought it would look cute in the baby's room for when she's feeding at night,' Leon replied, speaking fondly of the woman he loved. Vince watched his best friends profile as he concentrated on driving. He thought it was cool that Leon had gone to all this trouble of buying something to please Mia. They both seemed to be head over heels with each other. Even after the ten years they had known each other, Vince had never seen Leon so happy and so clearly proud that he was going to be a father.

'Almost time man,' Vince stated. Leon glanced sideways at him and smiled.

'I know.'


Letty wandered into the living room where Mia was sat watching TV. She sat beside her and began watching it with her. Mia glanced at her curiously but Letty pretended that she hadn't noticed. 'You okay Let?'

'Of course. How about you pretty lady?'

'I'm good. Feeling a little nervous though, ya know?'

'It's only natural honey, you're goin' to be a mommy – it's a big step.'

'I know that…It's just I get a little scared. What if there's something wrong with the baby Letty? What if something goes wrong? What if I'm a bad mother – I won't be able to cope,' she said, looking at Letty sincerely. For the first time in a long time, Letty saw the fear she had seen in Mia's eyes when their world came tumbling down. She couldn't stand seeing that look in her best friend's eyes.

'Oh honey, you're going to be a fantastic mother,' she started, cradling the younger girls face in her hand. 'Look at all the time you spent mothering the guys and making sure that everyone was okay. You've got that natural instinct even if you can't see it, we all can. Nothing's gonna go wrong and even if it does, you've got Leon and you've got me and Vince. You're gonna be fine, I promise.'

Mia's eyes glistened slightly, and Letty wiped away a stray tear that had fallen from her eye. 'You're too good to me Letty.'

'Because I love ya girl,' she smiled, moving hair out of Mia's eyes and kissing the top of her head. She slipped her arm around Mia's shoulders, allowing her to rest her head on her bare shoulder. Letty played with Mia's silky hair until she slipped off to sleep. Smiling to herself, she carefully moved her body from underneath Mia and laid her head back on the couch, covering her with the blanket from the back of the couch. She backed up and went upstairs to shower.


A loud knocking on the door woke Mia up from her afternoon daze. Sighing and rubbing her eyes, she swung her legs to the floor and struggled to get herself up. 'I'll be glad when you're outta me buddy,' she said to her bump. She grabbed the handle, pulling the door open and looking out at the surprise visitor. For a moment, she didn't recognise the tall man before her. His dark facial hair was beyond stubble and short hair curled slightly against his head. He had obviously once had a ripped body, but the muscle definition had become subdued due to not working out. It was the eyes that gave him away though. Mouth agape and eyes wide, she stepped back, unbelieving.

'Dom?'