"Honey-chile" Peggy called to Gemma. She found her on her hands and knees, digging socks from under Jessica's bed. Gemma and Jessica had been here for three months, and Gemma still seemed like a ghost of the woman she'd first met. She seemed determined to be useful and stay busy. Peggy swore her house had never been this clean and organized.

"Yes, Peggy?" Gemma looked over her shoulder to see the woman standing in the bedroom doorway. Peggy could see that she was in another of her melancholy moods. Since the young woman had returned, sadness seemed to hang over her like a dark cloud.

"I think Jessica has something to show you." Peggy came over, taking the armload from the younger woman. Gemma's blue eyes widened with concern immediately. The danger had passed, but the fear was hard to shake. Peggy saw the reaction and hurried to assure her. "No Honey-chile, It's not bad. It's just important that you go see what she has."

"Where is she?" Gemma came to her feet in a smooth movement hat Peggy envied.

"In the backyard."

"Where are the other children?' Gemma looked towards the window, noticing that she couldn't hear the children as she normally could.

"They all went down to the pond with Michelle." Peggy started nudging Gemma towards the door.

"And Jess didn't go?" Gemma was very confused now. Michelle never left a child behind, no matter how many children were gathered at Mama Peg's.

"She didn't want to."

"Oh?" Gemma frowned. Jessica loved playing in the mud with the other children. Curious and a little worried, she hurried down the stairs to see what could be more important to the three year old than mud. Circling around the house she saw the child in question, squatting in the yard, concentrating on something before her.

Gemma gasped as she saw what had captivated Jessica's attention. Warrick knelt before her, holding out his hand. They both stared down at something in his palm, as he spoke softly to her. Gemma felt her heart expand at the sight of the man. He'd lost a lot of weight during his illness, and it showed on his lean frame. She fought the urge to run to him, shower him with kisses.

"Mommy!" Jessica noticed her approach first. "Look! Daddy'Oh found a baby gwasshopper!"

"That's really neat." Gemma managed as green eyes raised to meet her. They were filled with apprehension and need. Gemma felt her heart pounding in her chest, as they took the time to look one another over. She stopped a few feet away, afraid to get any closer without doing something embarrassing. Warrick stayed where he was, letting her see that she was in control. Gemma felt a little powerful at the thought.

"Hi Gemma." He bit his bottom lip as he rose to his feet. He looked nervously at her. "Can we talk?"

Gemma considered it for a moment, seeing his unease increase as he waited for her answer. She thrilled at the power to make him sweat, but didn't have the heart to torture either of them anymore. Finally, she turned to Jessica. "Sweetie, I want you go to go inside the house, Tell Grandma Peggy I said you could have a cookie."

"I wanna stay wid Daddy'Oh!" Jessica grumbled, giving her mother a stubborn look.

"Please, sweetie, do as I ask." Gemma ordered. Jessica looked to Warrick for support.

"Go hang out with Peg." Warrick prodded the girl towards the house. "I need to talk with Mommy."

"Okay." Jessica groused, sulking as she went to the house.

"She's speaking a lot better now." Warrick commented as they watched her go inside. "She talks like a little girl now. She doesn't sound like a baby anymore."

"She's improving a lot. I think it's the socializing she does here." Gemma agreed. A strained silence grew between them. Gemma couldn't get over how gaunt he looked. He looked like a faded version of his old self. "You don't look well. Uncle Gil says you passed your physical and went back to work. I thought you'd look better."

"Peggy wants to put meat on my bones." Warrick quoted with a grin.

"Was it bad?" Gemma asked randomly. At his perplexed look, she added, "The recovery…..getting over being shot?" She moved closer to examine the scar on his shoulder. Warrick flinched as she ran a finger over the marked flesh. "Oh, I'm sorry! Does it hurt?"

"No." Warrick caught her hand in his. "The only pain I feel is in my heart. It showed up the moment you left, and it's not going away. Do you think you can forgive me for sending you away? Can we start over?"

"Why?"

"Why?…..Why do I want to start over again or Why did I send you away?"

"Yes." Gemma gave him a haughty look. She suddenly decided to make him work for every inch. If he wanted her, he would have to earn it.

"Both?" Warrick chuckled, seeing what her game was. He wasn't going to complain, he knew he had a lot to make up for. "I sent you away for no other reason except that I'm an idiot. I thought you'd be better off without me. It's no good. I tried to pretend I'd made the right choice, but I'm miserable without you." He looked into her eyes, hopefully. "Gris says you're miserable without me."

"And if he's mistaken?"

"If,…..if you really think you're better off without me, I'll go away. But, only if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you really don't want me in your life." Warrick challenged, hoping beyond hope that this gamble would be the right one. This was the gamble of his life. "Can you?"

Gemma studied him for a moment. She knew she should come up with something profound to say, but nothing came to mind. All she wanted to do was take him in her arms and make the look of pain away. She could see the pain in him, and it mirrored the pain she felt in her own heart. "Why would you think I'm better off without you? Tell me that, Warrick."

"I'm a screw-up."

Gemma let out a strained laugh. "Like I'm not? That's how we met, because of yet another of my screw-ups! I'm thinking, since we're both screw-ups, we can take turns screwing up and then we could get one another out of the hot water." Gemma suggested. "Was that it?"

"I'm an ex-gambler. I know you have a thing against gambling, and you have every right." Warrick confessed. "Gambling was once a big part of my life and it's not something that ever goes away."

"How bad did it get?"

"It got in the way of my job. It cost a person her life. I, by all rights, should have lost my career." Amazingly, the grief that he had once felt at that confession had subsided. "I owe it to Gil, that I still have my job."

"Uncle Gil is a smart man, he knows what is what." Gemma shrugged. "Is gambling still a problem?"

"I live in Vegas. I live in the pit of gambling. The temptation is always there."

"Have you succumbed to it?"

"Since I hit bottom, six years ago……I've gambled once." Warrick winced, thinking of the memory.

"Did it get out of hand?" Gemma probed.

"No." Warrick smiled. "Nick was there. He made sure it didn't."

"Was that the only time you've felt the need to gamble?" Gemma gave his hand a little tug, leading him out of the yard and along a path.

"No." Warrick shook his head. "It was just the only time that I let it get the best of me. I was in a bad place at the time. I usually just find something else to occupy my time, until the feeling passes. Nick's good at keeping me away from the tables."

"So,….if I kept you occupied, gambling wouldn't be a problem?" Gemma questioned as they came to a fork in the path, she pulled him to the left, along the less traveled path. Warrick went along with her, not caring where they were going, as long as he was with her, touching her.

"Are you saying you'll take me back?" Warrick asked hopefully, ducking under a low lying branch as the path led them into a wooded area.

"I can't take you back." Gemma answered, and Warrick felt his heart actually stop. He wondered if she had brought him out here so no one could hear her break his heart. Gemma glanced up at him, watching his face fall. "I never had you Warrick. How can I take you back if we never started."

"Of course you had me! You had me the from the first moment we met." Warrick stopped, pulling her to a halt beside him. He turned her to face him, he touched her face gently. "You had me."

"But, you never kissed me." Gemma argued. "You told me that we weren't meant to be. You eyes told me one thing, but your mouth told me another. I told you that I loved you, but you didn't want to hear that. You didn't want to accept that I loved you. All I wanted was for you to love me, to kiss me."

"I can do that now." Warrick whispered, pulling her closer. He pulled her into his arms, marveling at how wonderful she felt there. "That I can do!" He placed a chaste kiss on her lips, pulling back when he felt Gemma trying to further the kiss. "I love you, Gemma."

"You expecting me to profess my undying love after that kiss?" She smirked. "I really thought you had more to you than that. All this time of wishing you'd kiss me, and that's all you have."

"I just don't want to get carried away just yet." Warrick looked around, realizing they were in a secluded area. "I think you brought me out here to have your way with me!"

"And if I have?" Gemma pressed against him, trying to capture his mouth with hers. Warrick's height gave her a disadvantage, he raised to his full height with a smile.

"First things, first." He gave her a kiss on the forehead. Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out the ring Peggy had given him. He offered her the ring she'd worn while pretending to be his wife. "I want to marry you, Gemma. For real this time. Think you could handle spending the rest of your life as Gemma Brown?"

Swallowing roughly, Gemma looked at the ring he offered. Tears flooded her eyes as she turned her gaze to look into he emerald eyes. "Kiss me. I'll tell you my answer after you kiss me."

"Once I kiss you, I'll only take one answer from you." Warrick threatened, his mouth hovering just above hers.

"Sounds good to me." Gemma murmured wrapping her arms around his neck, allowing him to pull her close for a kiss. This time the kiss he gave her exceeded her expectations.

The End