Nick jumped out of his chair when he heard the door squeak open. He smiled tiredly, seeing Tim and Calleigh walk in.
"I'll leave you guys alone." Nick said, kissing Calleigh's cheek. He walked out and Calleigh rushed over to Anna's side.
"Oh Anna..." she cried, stroking her cheek softly. Tim stood near the door, an obvious look of shock on his face. This wasn't happening. It was some dream. He'd wake up and the past six months would have never happened. But this, no this was definitely not happening. It couldn't be. How could it be real? That wasn't his daughter lying in the hospital bed, unconscious. That wasn't his daughter who was shot by that jackass.
"Cal, um... why don't you go get something to eat?" Tim said quietly. Calleigh nodded, knowing he wanted to be with Anna. She walked out into the hallway and Tim sat down next to Anna. "Anna, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I yelled at you. I'm sorry that I let this happen."
He held her hand in his and sobbed quietly. Why couldn't things be easy? Why did they have to be so hard?
----------S/C-------
"It happened so fast Calleigh." Nick said, watching her poke at her food. "I didn't even see him on the stairs until it was too late."
"Nicky, it wasn't your fault. I'm just thankful that you found her." she said. "You talked to the doctors right?"
"Yeah. The first bullet hit her shoulder. The second bullet was lodged between two ribs."
"Is she gonna be okay?"
"They said so but... they don't know how long she's going to be out of it. Look, I don't care how long you're here, you can stay with me and Sara."
"Nick, I still have my other two kids."
"Speaking of kids... any more?"
Calleigh gave him a look.
"Come on Cal. My mom has seven. Yours had four. You're not that old, can still have a few."
"I'm six weeks pregnant but don't tell Tim because he doesn't know."
"Why not?"
"We decided on three kids."
"Ooh so this was a surprise." Nick smirked. "Cal, he won't care."
"I know. I'm just... putting off telling him for now, until things settle down at least."
"That may not be for a while and you may want to tell him before he thinks you're just putting on weight."
"Nick!"
He laughed and called the waiter over.
"Come on. I'll take you back to the hospital."
--------S/C-------
Tim walked down the hall to Anna's room, two cups of coffee in his hands. He was sore all over from sitting in that chair and he was tired from not sleeping much. Calleigh insisted that he go get something to eat and that she'd stay with Anna. Tim opened the door to Anna's room and stopped short. Calleigh was sitting next to Anna, who was wide awake but resting her head on Calleigh's shoulder, a dazed look on her face. Calleigh saw Tim and slid off the bed. Anna stared at Tim for a few seconds.
"I'm gonna go get breakfast." Calleigh said quietly. Tim handed her a coffee and she shook her head. "We um... we need to talk later."
She left the room and Tim set his coffee down on the table, then walked over to Anna's bed and sat down, pulling her gently into his arms. She cried into his shoulder as he held her, rocking her slightly.
"D-Daddy I was s-so sc-scared." she hiccupped.
"I know baby but it's over now." Tim said quietly, kissing her forehead. "We're gonna go home. I've missed you so, so, so much. Everyone has."
"Even Maggie?"
Tim chuckled and kissed Anna's forehead again.
"Yes, even Maggie. She told me a few days ago that she was bored because there wasn't anyone to pick on her. Danny then proceeded to call her a booger but uh... it didn't do any justice."
"Are they okay?"
"Yeah."
"Daddy, I'm sorry."
"What for? Anna, none of this was your fault. So don't think that for a second. Okay?"
She nodded and buried her face in Tim's shoulder.
"I love you Anna."
"I love you too Daddy."
-----------S/C----------
About two weeks later Anna was able to go back to Miami. After she had settled herself in her bedroom and Maggie and Danny were asleep, Tim turned to Calleigh.
"What?" she asked.
"Our life is perfect." Tim replied. "All of our kids are in one piece, still, we're happy..."
Calleigh nodded, biting her lip.
"Baby, do you um... think that maybe there's some way that our life could be even more perfect?"
Tim thought for a second and nodded. He slid his arm around Calleigh's waist and kissed her lightly.
"I know you're gonna get mad at me and say no but I've been thinking about this and I know what we agreed on and..."
"And what?" Calleigh asked.
"I want another baby."
Calleigh burst out laughing.
"What?" Tim asked. "I mean, I know Danny practically still is a baby but he's three and by the time he or she's born then he'll almost be four..."
"No." Calleigh shook her head, trying to calm herself. "Remember back when Anna woke up and I said we had to talk later and I made up some crazy thing about whatever I said?"
"Yeah?"
"It was all a lie."
"Then what did you have to tell me?"
"Are you that thick Speedle?"
"Er... yes? What did you have to tell me?" he asked.
"Tim, I'm pregnant. I've known for like... three weeks. I didn't want to tell you because we agreed on three kids!"
"Well whoever came up with that rule was being stupid." he grinned. "You're not kidding around?"
"No. We're gonna have another baby." Calleigh smiled.
"Yes!"
Calleigh had to laugh at her husband's childish ways.
"And we can have another boy." Tim said excitedly. "That way we're finally evened out."
"Well, I don't know what I can do about it." Calleigh smirked as Tim pulled her into a passionate kiss.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
A while later, Tim gave a happy smile and Calleigh was in complete shock.
"One of them could've walked in." she said. "I mean, this is the living room and we.."
"We just made love on the couch." Tim grinned. "Do you know how long it's been since we've done that?"
"Well you know what, any time you want to is fine by me." Calleigh smirked, pulling the blanket tighter around them. "But when one of them walks in, you're going to be the one explaining to Maggie and Danny about what sex is."
Tim thought about this and paled.
"We'll stick to our room."
-----------S/C---------
a/n: epilogue is next...