July 1978

Seven months later

Times Square, Times Square, Times Square.

The thoughts rattled around in Ben's brain as he stood in front of the mirror trying to fix his bowtie. He had, momentarily, forgotten about that night, being so caught up in everything else that had happened since. But when things had returned to normal, and he was lying in bed one night on the brink of sleep, it had come back to him with a vengeance, like an itch that demanded to be scratched.

Evelyn had never mentioned that night when she had been recounting her worse memories to him. It had been conveniently missed out and no matter how many times he tried to subtly bring it up, she was always able to divert the conversation before he got very far. It had gnawed at him ever since, and as he watched her stomach expand with their child, he found it occupying his every waking moment.

"Are you ready?" Evelyn called through from the living room.

"Almost."

"Honestly…" she came into the bedroom, "I thought we women were supposed to be the ones who took the longest to get ready." She turned him to face her and set about fixing his bowtie, "You look very handsome, Mr Stone."

"And you look very beautiful, Mrs Stone," he returned the compliment, kissing her lightly on the lips. She was wearing a midnight blue dress which was loose enough to modestly cover her bump, but not so loose that she resembled a tent. He put his hand on her stomach and grinned when he felt a kick.

"Baby's excited," she told him, "It's her first big event and she's looking forward to it."

"Oh it's a she, is it?" he teased.

"Of course," she replied, "Now, come on, we're going to be late."

It was July 16th and the night of the annual Burns & Associates Summer Dinner Dance. If he was being honest, Ben wasn't that keen on going. He hated these kind of functions, where everyone slapped each other on the back and congratulated themselves on how well they were doing. He had been to a couple of benefits hosted by the Mayor and found himself bored to tears watching Bowyer accept praise lavished on him. Ben wanted to do his job for the victims, not for the kudos.

Evelyn on the other hand, had been excited ever since the invites had gone out. She was loving her job and loving the work and he had never seen her so happy. She had glowed right throughout the pregnancy, particularly when they told her that no, they weren't going to fire her because she was with child, and that she should take all the time she needed. Ben was hopefully going to try and persuade to take at least a year after the baby was born, but he hadn't yet managed to bring it up.

Times Square, Times Square, Times Square.

He ached to ask her outright about it, wanting to phrase it as the last piece of their old life before their baby came. He wanted it out in the open, dealt with and put behind them, but time was running out on that wish.

"Come on, Ben," she was standing holding the door open, "I know it's fashionable to be late, but I really don't want to be."

"Ok, ok," he said, stepping out and locking the door behind him, "God forbid."

During the cab ride, Evelyn fidgeted wildly, crossing and uncrossing her legs, shifting in her seat, playing with her hair, rubbing her hands together.

"You ok?" he asked her eventually.

"What? Yes," she replied.

"It's not the baby, is it?"

"No, Ben, it's not the baby," she sighed, "not everything is about the baby."

He was silenced by her comment. It was the first time since she had discovered she was pregnant that she had ever displayed any hostility towards their child.

Sensing his feelings, she turned to look at him, "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just nervous about tonight."

"Why? From what you've told me, they seem to love you."

"That's work. This is social." She didn't say anything else, as if it were obvious.

"So?"

"It's different, Ben."

"How?"

"Oh, stop being so naïve," she snapped, "you know exactly what I'm talking about."

He didn't, but he thought it best to say nothing. When the cab pulled up outside the hotel where the dinner was taking place, he opened her door for her and helped her out.

"Thank you," she smiled and kissed him. It was the closest he would get to an apology. She took his hand and they made their way into the foyer which was already thronged with people. Evelyn squeezed his hand and grinned at him and he smiled back indulgently, wanting to make her happy.

"That's Jack Burns," she whispered to him, her head gesturing in the direction of a grey-haired man holding court in one corner of the foyer. "He's brilliant, absolutely brilliant."

"He's a shark," Ben wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. Jack Burns may hold a special place in Evelyn's heart, but amongst prosecutors he was known as one of the most slippery, underhanded defence attorneys to ever be admitted to the bar. He had never come up against him personally, but both Bowyer and Wentworth had told him many stories.

"Make sure your wife doesn't end up like him," Bowyer had told him, "Otherwise she'll serve you your balls on a platter."

"Evelyn!" he was distracted by a female voice and a small, redhead raced over to them.

"Lizzie, hi!" Evelyn greeted her warmly, "Ben, this is Elizabeth Young, one of my good friends. Lizzie, this is my husband, Ben."

"Nice to meet you, Ben," Lizzie shook his hand, "What do you think of this place, great huh?"

"It's very nice," he replied honestly.

"Paul?" Lizzie grabbed the arm of a tall, skinny blond male, "this is my husband, Paul. Paul, darling, this is Evelyn Sanderson that I'm always telling you about, and this is her husband, Ben Stone. He works for the DA's office," she added.

"Pleased to meet you," Paul replied. He looked bored out of his mind. "I hate these functions," he confided as Lizzie and Evelyn began talking away to each other, "This is my third and they don't get any better."

Ben was still reeling from the fact that Lizzie had addressed Evelyn as Evelyn Sanderson. It had never crossed his mind that she might not use her married name at the office. "Yeah…I hate them too," he replied distractedly.

"So, the DA's office? Guess this would be the last place you'd want to be. Bowing down at Jack Burn's feet."

Ben swung his attention back to Paul, "Well I've never come up against him myself, but I've heard stories."

"Yeah, all of which are true. Me, I'm in real estate."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you get some sharks there too, but nothing like Burns. He thinks he's God."

At that moment a gong banged and Burns, standing at the top of a small flight of stairs, waved his hands for silence, "Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Burns & Associates annual summer dinner dance." There was applause, "Dinner is now being served in the Banqueting Suite, so please, come on in." There was mild laughter and people began gathering up their belongings to move into the dining room.

"Great," Paul muttered, "Make sure you drink plenty, then you'll hopefully sleep through his motivational speech."

"Having fun?" Evelyn appeared at his shoulder.

"Sure," he replied, following her inside. The tables had already been organised and he found himself seated between Evelyn and Paul with the other places taken up by other attorneys and their bored looking partners.

The food was delicious, he couldn't fault Burns for that, and the drink flowed easily. At one point, he opened his mouth to remind Evelyn not to drink any alcohol, but he saw that she had only asked for water, so he closed it again.

"You need to trust her," his conscience shouted at him, "She's not an idiot."

Times Square, Times Square, Times Square.

As coffee was being served, Burns did his round of the tables, talking to his staff, joking with their partners and basically coming across as the affable host. When he reached their table, Ben could practically feel Evelyn bristle with excitement.

"Evelyn, you're looking lovely tonight," Burns said, kissing her on the cheek, "and this must be your husband." He looked at Ben.

"Yes sir," Evelyn replied, "Ben, this is Mr Burns."

Ben stood up and shook the older man's hand, "It's a pleasure, sir."

"Ben Stone?" Burns frowned, "You work at the DA's office."

"Yes sir I do."

"Honourable job, if a thankless one."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Surely it must frustrate you to lose so many cases. I read that the conviction rates are down this quarter."

"We put away everyone we can," Ben replied, his tone icy.

"When you're not outmanoeuvred by us of course," Burns replied with a wide smile.

"Of course." Ben would have liked nothing more than to wipe the smug grin off of Burns's face.

"And your wife," Burns turned back to Evelyn, "She's doing a remarkable job. She's going to be a rising star with us, I can just tell." Evelyn was practically pink with pleasure. "Do enjoy your evening." He moved round to talk to Lizzie and Paul.

"Did you hear that?" Evelyn whispered, "did you hear what he said about me?"

"Yes," Ben replied, "he likes you a lot." He didn't add that Burns probably said that to everyone.

"I knew it! I knew he would be impressed given some time."

Ben took a mouthful of coffee, "Why don't you use your married name?"

"What?" Evelyn was trying to listen in to what Burns was saying to Lizzie.

"I said, why don't you use your married name?"

She looked at him for a long moment as if she couldn't quite comprehend what he was getting at, "I don't understand."

"At work," he said, his voice tight, "you go by Evelyn Sanderson."

"Is this because of how Lizzie introduced me?" Evelyn laughed, "Oh Ben, there's no need to get bent out of shape."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes it does!" he fought to keep his voice down, "You're my wife and yet you don't use my name."

"I didn't realise I was your possession," she replied, her voice equally as low.

"Stop twisting things."

"I'm not. Look, Mr Burns said…"

"What does he have to do with it?"

"Sssh!" she glared at him, "He said that if I wanted to make a name for myself as a defence attorney, then it might be easier if my name wasn't synonymous with an ADA."

"What?"

"Ben," she said patiently, "you can deny it all you want, but you are already one hell of a litigator. They talk about you in the papers. They love you at the DA's office and you're only going to get better and better as time goes on."

"I fail to see…"

"People know your name. I want them to know mine."

"Your name is Evelyn Stone." It sounded petty, but it was true.

"Yes I know that. In every other walk of life. But I need to build a reputation on my own and I don't want to be referred to as Evelyn Stone, wife of ADA Ben Stone. Can you understand that?" Her eyes pleaded with him.

"Fine," he replied gruffly, but it was anything but. "But I'm telling you right now that our child is not going to be one of those kids who has two names. No…Sanderson-Stone, ok?"

Evelyn smiled, "Ok."

At that moment, Burns took to the floor and proceeded to speak for a full twenty minutes on the virtues of the firm, how well they had done and where they were going. He referred to numerous successful defences undertaken over the last year, many of which had passed right under Ben's nose. He watched as Burns continually self-congratulated himself, knowing inside that there were killers free because of that man. He glanced sideways at Evelyn, who was watching Burns with a rapt look on her face, and vowed that he would never let her become like him.

Times Square, Times Square, Times Square.

SSSS

"That was a great night," Evelyn said when they got back to the apartment, "Don't you think it was great?"

"Sure," Ben replied, taking off his bowtie and unbuttoning his top button, "great."

"Don't sound so enthusiastic," she said from the kitchen where she was pouring herself some juice.

"I am enthusiastic. It was a nice night."

"But you don't like Burns, do you?" she leant against the doorframe and sipped the juice, "I could see it on your face. So could he, probably."

"What do you want me to say? No, I don't like him."

"Because he's beaten your office some times? That's just petty, Ben."

"Because he's facilitated it so that criminals who should be locked up are walking the streets. Murderers, rapists…"

"Oh please, you make it sound so terrible."

"It is terrible, Evelyn."

"If the DA's office can't come up with the evidence, what do you expect?" she went back into the kitchen.

Ben came and stood behind her, "Is that what you really think? That everyone Burns has defended is innocent?"

"No…"

"Then how can you stand there…?"

"It's my job, Ben. Just as it's yours to think everyone is guilty."

"I don't think that unless I have evidence to prove it."

"If you had evidence to prove it, you would win all your cases." She turned to face him and put her hands on his chest, "Come on, let's not fight. It's pointless."

Ben knew she was right. It was pointless. Pointless to fight over something that didn't really matter. But perhaps now was the perfect time to bring up what had really been bugging him all these months.

"Evelyn…"

"Hmm?" she was unbuttoning his dinner jacket.

"We need to talk."

"About what?" she pulled it off and started on his shirt.

"About…something that happened a while ago…"

"It's late, Ben," she replied, kissing him, "can't it wait until morning?" She dropped kisses down his throat.

"No, I really think we should talk about it now," he replied as she pulled his shirt out of the waistband of his pants. "It's about…"

"Help me up."

"What?"

"Onto the counter, help me up." He hoisted her up so that she was sitting on the counter, her legs dangling, "What were you saying?" She ran her hands over his bare chest and down to his waistband.

"I want to talk about…" he broke off as she unzipped his flies. "Evelyn…"

"Make love to me," she whispered in his ear.

It drove him crazy when she said it. She had the knack of phrasing it with just enough desire, longing and aggression in her tone to make him forget about what he was thinking about and think only about being inside of her. She kissed him passionately, and for a moment, he forgot what he had been going to say as he returned her kiss. Their sex life had dipped since she had fallen pregnant, Evelyn because she was usually too tired, Ben because he was usually too afraid. But right at that moment, he could feel unbridled desire burning up inside of him.

"Not here," he told her, "not here."

"You used to like doing it here," she replied, slipping her hand inside his pants.

Groaning, he lifted her up into his arms, the weight of her and the baby seemingly nothing, and carried her into the bedroom. Their lovemaking was tender, but there was an edge to it, an edge that caused him to be able to go longer, to claim her over and over again, to forget why he was annoyed at her, at Burns, at everything until they collapsed in each other's arms, well and truly spent.

As he drifted off to sleep, Ben knew there was something he had been meaning to talk to her about, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what.

SSSS

"Ben?"

He grunted, his mind foggy with sleep.

"Ben."

Through the haze, he thought he could hear Evelyn calling to him.

"Ben!"

It was sharper this time, and he bolted upright, "What…what…what is it?" He screwed his eyes up against the light shining from her side of the bed and as he squinted at the clock, he could see it was three in the morning. Turning over, he saw her sitting up in the bed, shaking slightly. "What is it?" he asked, awake now, "Evelyn?"

"I think…" she paused and swallowed hard, "I think I'm having contractions."