Megan whistled a happy tune as she got down on her knees and began applying a fresh coat of Mop N Glow to the newly mopped tiles of the kitchen floor. It was the last touch to a house that was now spic and span. Not that it had ever been anywhere near dirty before. For Megan, cleanliness was next to godliness. She always liked to keep a tidy house, often being seen following her husband and cleaning up the trail of dirty socks and underwear he left behind on the floor.

She was in a good mood, the best one she could have been in. There was of course a lot on her mind but she was taking it all in stride. She had cut back considerably at work to make more time for Nathan and the child they were expecting. She didn't just want a pretty mansion on the hill, she wanted a real home for her family.

Her relationship with her husband had been a series of ups and downs. He had been a wild child when they first met. He was the most popular student on campus and his playboy reputation had well preceded him. But Megan wasn't impressed by things like that. She was probably the only girl at the school that didn't melt at the very mention of the famous or rather infamous jocks. Nathan liked that challenge and he liked her. He had fallen in love with her and for a while they enjoyed life in a perfect, euphoric, loving bubble.

She knew he had his problems. Drinking had always been an issue and so had his quick temper. Then there were the issues with his parents. A controlling, arrogant, ruthless father. A mother whose secrets and lies had destroyed his trust and altered his love for her. The enormous, relentless pressure to succeed at basketball. And finally his biggest demon…an ex wife he had loved who had betrayed him. It was all a part of Nathan and who he was but it wasn't what he liked to share or talk about. There was always a wall up, he was always on the defense somehow. He rarely let anyone in and next to Lucas, Megan had gone farther than anyone.

The marriage had been anything but a fairytale. It was tough to go through it and even tougher to keep up the outside façade that everything was perfect. But things had gotten better. Nathan had gotten better. The baby had done just what she hoped it would…it was bringing them closer together. She knew he did love her but the bond of sharing a child was the one tie that really binded them. Everything else would come together.

"Babe, what the hell are you doing?" Nathan chuckled as he entered their house.

He was home after a particularly grueling practice session preparing the team for a rough series of away games.

"My husband is home", she smiled.

"And you look kind of like my wife…except for the bandana and the rubber gloves."

"I was in a cleaning mood because the house was a mess and you know I can't have the house messy", she shrugged.

"I hardly believe that. Ask anybody…bar none, this is probably the cleanest house in the state."

"I take that as a compliment", she quipped.

Nathan grinned and shook his head.

"You know, Meg, they have these really cool new inventions out nowadays. It's this thing with a long handle with a squiggly head at the end…and it's called a mop."

"I know what a mop is, silly."

"Then why are you on your hands and knees? Don't get me wrong. You look incredibly sexy. I dig the Aunt Jemima look and I'm not one to ever complain about a woman on her knees", he joked.

"Perv", she laughed, tossing a rag at him. "And for your information, it's easier to coat the floor tile by tile this way."

"You should let me hire a maid."

"We don't need a maid."

"Yes, we do."

"No, we don't. I can do this myself."

"Megan, you're pregnant."

"Pregnant, not disabled."

"But what happens in a few months when it's gonna be virtually impossible or at least damned uncomfortable to do that? Or what about when the baby gets here? You're gonna need some help then."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Meg…"

"My mom did it and my grandmother did it just fine."

"Baby, I don't doubt you can do it but I don't want you to. Not when you don't have to. I just want to take care of you. I want to make this pregnancy and all the stuff after it, as easy on you as possible."

She sighed as she stood and removed the gloves. Her arms wrapped around her husband as their lips pecked.

"I know what you're trying to do, Nate and I love you for it. I promise I'll slow things down and if you really want, we could bring someone in…on one condition."

"Uh oh. What's that?"

"That she is as efficient as I am", Megan grinned. "I like the floors done a certain way and the carpets vacuumed and the dishes hand washed because face it, dishwashers don't really disinfect and I'm a stickler for a sanitary bathroom and of course the beds must be made a certain way and the laundry folded and…"

Nathan laughed out loud.

"So in other words you want me to hire you a Rosie?"

"Who's Rosie?"

"Wasn't that the name of that robot maid the Jetson's had? Because I don't know anyone else that's gonna be that anal about cleaning the house."

Megan playfully slapped his ass.

"You know you love me. And you can thank me later for cleaning your side of the closet, which was a real mess by the way."

"Hey, I clean", Nathan protested as they headed upstairs.

"Is that what you call it?"

Once inside their room, he looked it over, impressed. All his clothes were pressed and either neatly hung on racks or folded in drawers. His shoes were lined up perfectly next to hers.

"Nice work, Mrs. Scott. How much do I owe you?"

"You can pay me later in bed", she said saucily.

"When did you learn to talk dirty, Meg? They teach you that at Mass?"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"And I took the liberty of straightening up that box that had all your junk in it. I threw a few things away."

Nathan shrugged.

"Okay. It was mostly crap anyway."

He sat on the bed and removed his sneakers. He emptied the pockets of his practice pants for change and the paper receipt from the credit card he had used to pay for lunch as well as empty gum wrappers fell out as well. Megan gave him the look and put her hands on her hips.

"Nathan Daniel!"

"What?" he laughed. "I wasn't gonna leave it there. Promise. I was just testing you babe, to see if you noticed."

"Well, I do, sir."

"Okay, okay. I'm going to the trash can", he stood. "See?"

She smiled approvingly as he dumped the contents in the bin. His smile quickly faded when he saw what else was in there. Sitting on the top of all the other trash, there it was. Nathan felt like he was going to explode.

"Baby, you okay?"

"Megan, did you throw this away?" he asked, pulling it out and showing it to her.

"Huh? Oh yeah. It was in your junk box."

"Well, it's not fucking junk."

She was taken aback by the sudden change of his tone.

"Nathan…"

"This isn't trash, okay? You had no right to throw this away!"

"Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was important to you. It was just a dirty, old, plastic bracelet. It didn't look valuable or anything. It look like it came out of some machine you'd stick a quarter in or something."

"Oh so just because something doesn't cost a lot of money, all of a sudden it's useless?"

"No. Nathan, of course not. That's not what I meant. Sweetie…"

She touched his arm with her hand but he jerked away.

"Just save it, alright? Just…just shut up, Meg!"

She recoiled at his harsh words. Tears filled her eyes. It was starting again and she had no idea what had set him off…this time.

"I'm sorry", she mouthed.

He looked at her trembling, frightened, apologetic figure and instantly softened a little.

"It's cool, alright?" he sighed. "Look, it's fine. Just don't touch my stuff. Next time ask before you throw something away."

She nodded and watched as he slipped it in his pocket and retreated downstairs. She waited to follow him but didn't dare. Finally he made it to the one spot where stashed away was the secret safe deposit box. Nathan struggled with the combination to open it. His hands caressed the piece of cheap plastic before locking it away.

He had given it to Haley their first tutoring session. It had come out of a Cracker Jack box and at best was worth a quarter but price was irrelevant. It harbored more sentimental value than anything in his life. It had been the strongest symbol of their love. She had left it behind when she left him behind and it was the only tangible thing he had left of their time together. Hearts had been broken, pictures had been torched but when all was said and done, over the years that was the one item he could hold between his fingers. When he closed his eyes, it was just like holding her again.