A/N: KangarooGirl, betty-boop, tallyz, Dani, takerlover21, Lady LP, Jet, leslienicolespeaks and Amarantha - thankyou to all of you for your wonderful reviews! New chapter!

Leon tapped his fingers against the steering wheel rapidly as he drove down the street. Nothing had changed back in LA, nothing. The only new development was that Vince and Tala had moved into the firehouse so they could take care of Winter for him.

He smiled to himself at the prospect of seeing his dog for the first time in almost a year and being back at home. The firehouse held some of his fondest memories – others he didn't really want to remember at all. Still, it felt good to be back in LA and minutes away from being reunited with his son and family. He'd called ahead and told Vince everything, why he was coming back and he'd been met with the understanding big brother he'd always known. Sure he was a little volatile at times, but Vince was a good brother. Everything he did, he did to protect his family. They were the most important people in the world to him.

Turning into the street the firehouse was on, Leon braced himself for meeting his past, turning into the driveway of his old home – now Vince's home. He would be staying with them as there was more than enough room for everyone.

He'd not even had the chance to get out of the car, his door only just opened when the squeals of children echoed down the side of the house and a minute later, both Cade and Aurora appeared, barrelling toward the car. He didn't even hesitate to leave everything in the car and he sprung out, skidding to his knees on the driveway and tugging Cade to his chest.

Instantly the familiar scent of his son assaulted his nose, his warm little body nestled against him with little arms wrapped around his neck. He stroked his dark hair, rocking him slightly.

"You've gotten so big!" he pulled back, looking him over critically. Once he was done, he ran his hand over his hair once more and smiled. He'd missed him so much that it was painful. "I missed you, brat."

Cade giggled, launching himself on his father once more, knocking him back onto his behind. Leon toppled backward, arms flying to catch Cade so he didn't hurt himself and a moment later, Rory too was on top of him, both children giggling madly.

"I see the welcoming committee found you."

Leon looked up, sighting Vince standing a few feet away, arms folded across his chest and watching them.

"Uh, yeah – yeah they did." He gently eased the kids off him and climbed to his feet, brushing his pants off as Vince headed toward him. For a moment he thought he was going to hit him, but then Vince stopped and sniffed, his brow creasing.

"You don't smell like an ashtray."

Leon leant back into the car, grabbing out his cell and wallet. "That's because I quit." When he turned back toward Vince, he caught the look of stunned shock on his face. "What?"

"You actually gave up smoking?"

He nodded absently, opening the back door. "Ruby doesn't like it and it's not good for the baby's health, so I thought that I would – what? What are you staring at me like that for?"

Vince took the duffel bag Leon had just pulled from the car and hefted it up over his shoulder, still looking at Leon with an odd look on his face.

"You're in love with her."

For a moment, Leon didn't say anything, then turning back toward the car he nodded slowly. "Doesn't matter though – she still doesn't want to see me or for me to see the baby, but I can always hope, right?"

Gently patting him on the shoulder, Vince nodded. "Of course, Le – nothing wrong with a little hope." Checking to make sure the kids were playing happily on the grassy lawn, Vince set the bag down and stopped his little brother, turning him to face him.

"How's she doin?"

Leon stared at his feet for a while. "She says she's real big – feels like a whale apparently. I mean, Let didn't get real big, but everyone's different right?" He looked up at Vince, his eyes glassy. "She'll be ok, right?"

"She's a strong woman, Le – she'll be alright, the baby will be fine. You're not going to lose them."

Leon cleared his throat, moving to get the rest of his things. "She's due late next month. You're going to be an uncle again."

Vince nodded, excited but unsure of how Leon was reacting. It seemed like a mixture of terror and anticipation. "And you'll be a father for the second time."

"Yeah," he nodded slowly, closing the car door and calling out to Cade, holding his arms out to his small son, "-if she'll let me."

"Did I wake you?"

Ruby snuggled down into her pillows and sighed, the quiet lull of Leon's low timbered voice tickling her ear drum. She'd had a rough day. First she'd been late for work, then gotten into an argument with a customer – who had in fact slapped her in the face and left a nasty bruise on her cheekbone- then she'd lost her purse and had gone into a mad fit panicking about it only to find it behind the couch… It wasn't her day at all. She was so pleased to hear Leon's voice, even if he had woken her at quarter till eleven at night.

"No," she lied, yawning, "-was just laying down." She smiled as she heard his sigh of relief. This Leon was such a contradiction to the Leon she'd known in Miami. He was almost shy when he spoke to her – she found it almost painfully endearing. "Are you back in LA?"

"Yeah – I got back this afternoon. You were right. If I'm going to sort shit out I need to be with my family." His grin was audible in his voice. "When I pulled up, both Cade and Rory came running out to see me – I ended up on the ground of course, but you know, they were excited. Cade recognised the sound of my car's engine – how cool is that?"

Ruby laughed. He sounded like a big kid as he rambled on about how smart his little boy was and how much he'd grown. He was a wonderful father and she was hoping he would take to her baby just as much as he had to Cade – even though she wasn't Letty.

"You're rambling, precious."

He quieted, clearing his throat at her use of her nickname for him. ".. I miss you, gemstone." His voice was much softer now, lower and warm enough to make her toes curl. "When can I see you?"

"I'll send you a photo, how about that?"

He sighed. "I want to see you though."

Ruby bit her lip. She wanted to see him too but she knew that by doing so they wouldn't get things sorted out between them. All would be forgotten and nothing would be resolved. "Leon.. I can't. Not yet. I need to do this on my own, for me – please understand that, Le. Please?"

She was met with an awkward silence that made her fear he'd hung up, then she heard him breathing and her heart pounded wildly. She so vividly remembered how that breath felt against the back of her neck in the middle of the night, how his arms felt wrapped around her as he slept, blissfully unaware that she was still awake just so she could see him with all his walls down – at peace for just a little while.

"Can I still have that photo then?"

She smiled, already trying to decide which one to send him. There had been a staff party a few days earlier and she'd already been given the photos that had been taken of herself.

"Of course you can, precious." There was a slight flicker of fear that he'd change his mind about wanting them when he got the photo, but she pushed it aside and tried not to think about that. If he wanted something to do with the baby then that was better then nothing at all. "How's Cade? Is he alright? Vince, Tala, Rory?"

"They're all great – V got a promotion at work.. he's still limited because of his.." he paused, obviously thinking hard and Ruby had to call his name three times before he replied. "I never told you how Vince's arm got messed up, did I."

Sitting up carefully, Ruby leaned back against the headboard, tugging the sheet over her legs and bump. "No, you didn't." She sat back and listened, almost in tears by the time he'd gotten through his story of how things had come to be and she felt a pounding headache coming on. She now knew everything – it had taken him almost an hour, but he'd told her all about the heists, about Dominic, Mia, Letty and Jesse – some of it tearful, some of it angry.. he regretted all of it.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath. "For God's sake, Leon.."

He was sniffling quietly, not quite crying but talking about it had dredged up some painful memories for him and he was a little out of it. "Please don't hate me because of what I've done, Ruby."

"Le I don't hate you – trust me, I've tried hating you and I just can't – it's just a lot to process right now." She looked at the clock beside the bed and was surprised to find it was nearing one in the morning. "Look, Le – I'm going to have to go and get some sleep. I'm exhausted, my head hurts, my face hurts.."

"Your face? What happened to your face?" The tone in his voice was instantly fiercer, more protective and he sounded as if he'd readily to jump into the middle of a fight for her.

She cursed herself silently for her slip and touched the bruise under her eye. "I got into an argument with a woman at work today and she slapped me." She sighed, "I should have seen it coming but I didn't think she'd hit a pregnant woman. I was obviously wrong."

He was bristling, she could tell. "Well of course you thought she wouldn't hit a pregnant woman – no fucking person in their right mind would! How goddamn stupid could a person be? Are you alright? Is lump alright?"

Despite herself, Ruby started to giggle madly. He'd nicknamed the baby. "Lump?" She instantly felt so giddy she could burst.

She could almost see the blush on his face as he stammered a response.

"Well.. Cade and I were talking and we thought we should have something to call the baby for now. We can't call it 'it' or 'the baby' all the time, can we?"

Ruby sobered. He'd told Cade. He'd told Cade that they were having a baby and had actually talked about it with him. He really was interested!

"Cade knows?"

"Yeah – he's really excited for us. He wants to know when you're coming home so he can meet lump."

She could feel the tears welling in her eyes. "I'll send you that photo tomorrow, Le."

"Shit – I'm sorry, Rubes.. I didn't mean to – dammit. I'm so sorry.."

She smiled to herself, wiping at the tears that dripped down her cheek. "No, no, precious – I'm just really tired is all. You didn't say anything wrong." Taking a deep breath, she braced herself to say it – the one thing she'd been wanting to say to him for months now but couldn't. "Le?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, precious." She heard his breath catch, "Goodnight." She hung up, once again before he had the chance to say anything. She was crying again, but this time it was because the weight was finally off her shoulders. He knew now and all she could do was wait and see what happened. She only hoped she hadn't ruined everything.