A/N: I wasn't sure where to go with this one. Should Alex be mad or should she be so happy that she has a family? Hope you like it!

By the time they had reached the dining room, Zoey, Ellie, Liz and Abbey were already seated, with food on the table. "It's about time," Abbey said, glancing up at them. "I went back upstairs, but you weren't there."

"I was fine. Dad took me on the tour," Alex replied, sitting down in the empty chair. Her crutches were taken and placed against the back wall. Apart of her was tired of being where she was every minute of the day. She was touched by the older woman's concern, but she was in a large house surrounded by well trained officers. There wasn't any place she could really go.

"What'd you think," Zoey asked, cutting into thefood that wason the table.

"It's…big," Alex said with a grin. The others laughed as she began to pile food on her plate. Abbey watched with a smile as she watched her daughter eat food. She was slowly, but surely, gaining the weight back.

After dinner, Alex collapsed in her bed. It was still early, but she was exhausted. She had managed to change into a pair of pajama pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. She pulled back the covers, turning over on her side. She could see the shadows of the two marines that guarded her door through the crack at the bottom. She saw a shadow approach her door and turned her face away. Her mother and her nightly visit.

"I'm still awake," Alex said, with a hint of impatience. "I feel fine…my shins and my arm hurts."

"I figured that," Abbey replied, "I brought up some meds for you. Drink up all of the water." She handed them to Alex along with a cup of water. Alex downed the meds, along with all of the water. Abbey fluffed the pillows as Alex lay back down.

"You going to come in here and check on me everynight," Alex asked, looking up at her.

"For as long as I can," Abbey said, running her hands through Alex's hair. "Stitches feel okay?"

"Yeah," Alex said, "Starting to itch. When can they come out?"

"In a couple of days," Abbey said, "We'll have to see how well they're healed." Alex groaned, turning her head away. "I know you're tired of them, but they'll come out soon enough." She smiled at Alex's impatience. It reminded her of herself.

"I met the senior staff today," Alex said, turning her head to look back up at her.

"That's your dad said," Abbey said, "Leo hasn't seen you since you were born." Alex snorted, rolling her eyes. "He's your godfather, you know."

"Dad left that minor detail out. He Zoey's as well?"

"No," she replied, "She has a godmother…Milly Griffith. She's the surgeon general. We had separate god parents for the two of you in case something happened to your father and I, or one of them."

"CJ was nice," Alex said.

"Yeah," Abbey said, "She's always been like a member of this family."

"Sam's cute."

"Stay away from him, young lady." She smiled as Alex giggled at her comment. It was a sound she had often wondered about; what her youngest daughter's laughter would sound like.

"What? Am I only allowed to date Rhodes Scholars," Alex asked.

"If your father lets you date at all," she said with a soft smile.

"Oh, he'll let me," Alex said, "I'll have him wrapped around my finger."

"You already do," Abbey thought to herself. She smiled down at her daughter, brushing the hair from her eyes.

"Mom," Alex asked, snapping her mother out of the trance she had been in.

"Yeah," Abbey said, looking down at her.

"Nothing...never mind," Alex said, looking away. Abbey could tell by the twisting of the blanket in Alex's hands that something bothered the girl.

"Alex, what is it," Abbey asked. "You can tell me anything."

"It's nothing," Alex insisted.

"Alright," Abbey said. "I love you." Alex closed her eyes turning over on her side. "Get some sleep." She pushed herself off the bed and kissed Alex's forehead gently. The girl was asleep before she pulled away, her chest rising and falling evenly.

Abbey walked in the bedroom, noticing her husband laying on the chaise, reading a report. "Alexandria asleep," he asked, glancing up.

"Yeah," she said, walking into the bathroom. She changed into one of Jed's Notre Dame shirts, pulling her hair back and walked back out, pulling the covers back on the bed. "You going to be up late?"

"Nah," he said, setting the report aside. He turned out the light behind the chaise, then changed for bed.

She pulled the covers back as he reemerged, wearing pajama bottoms and a grey Notre Dame shirt. "It's good to have her back," he said, crawling between the covers and turning out the light.

"Yeah, it is," she said, settling against him as he lay down against the pillows. She laid her head against his chest, his arm coming around her shoulders, holding her close.

"You think she's really doing alright," he asked, tracing lazy circles on her shoulder.

"I don't know," she sighed, "She seems alright, but I couldn't tell you what's going on in that mind of hers. Her first meeting with Charlotte's tomorrow."

"She and Zoey seem to get along."

"Thank God for that."

"Leo was the happiest I've seen him in awhile."

"He should be. Alexandria's his goddaughter." She propped herself up on her elbow, examining him as his hand slid down to her thigh. "She seems so...preoccupied some times. Like she's here but she's not." Jed nodded, rubbing her thigh gently. They both knew Alex would need time adjusting to everything that was happening to her. "She cares about you, you know."

"She's certainly got me wrapped around her finger."

"She knows." She paused, looking down at him. "Jed, is it wrong that I want to give her everything? That I want to protect her from every harm? Every heartbreak?"

"We want to do that for all of our children," he said.

"She said that Sam was cute."

"I'm locking her in a dungeon."

"You said that about Zoey."

"Well, I can still do that about Alexandria," he said.

"It made me realize how much of her life we've really missed," she said, "Her first step, her first word, probably her first kiss."

"But, we have so many firsts to go," he said, "Her marriage, first baby, college graduation. There's so many more for her."

"I love you." She kissed him gently, laying her head back down on his chest.

"I love you too." He kissed her hair gently, rubbing her back as she drifted off to sleep.

He lay there for a moment longer, staring at the ceiling. He thought about his wife's words on how much of their daughter's life they had missed. He thanked the God he had cursed for Mrs. Lanningham's death for bringing his daughter back. He knew there were many firsts ahead for them as he closed his eyes. Secretly, he was looking forward to all of them.