This had to have been Heaven. It must have been; Spot had never been happier in his entire life. He walked taller and prouder than ever in this golden haze he was in. The sunlight spread warmth of yellow rays onto his path, the ground lightening with it for every step he took. Spot was, for the first time in a long time, content. There was utopia surrounding him everywhere he looked. There was Gabby and Noah.

They met him at the end of this path. Gabby's long, chestnut locks danced lightly over her shoulders and draped her back, a blushing cheek spread to include a slow smile on her face as her evergreen eyes connected deeply with the sapphire orbs of their beholder. Her soft hand held dearly to Noah, who had grown remarkably. The infant now stood leaning against his mother's leg almost completely on his own, connected as if the two were one being.

Spot held out his hand and Gabby took hold of it. Immediately he felt a rush of new life. She let go and his hand stroked her forearm as her fingers brushed lightly against his cheek. He gazed into her eyes and she said ever so faintly, "Open your eyes."

So he did. One year later, Spot Conlon opened his eyes. There was sunlight fighting its way through the delicate curtains of the apartment bedroom and greeted him in the timeliest manner.

"Spot."

He felt a hushed voice stream into his ear as he lay on his side beneath the thin covers. He smiled to himself and turned over. Gabby sat next to him, already prepared for the day. Her brown hair dangled lightly onto his face as she looked down on him with a faint smile.

"You need to see this." She grabbed his face and kissed his forehead before turning over to get up from the bed. As she reached the door she smiled at him with her green eyes.

Spot hesitated to take in the moment. He smiled faintly back and took to his feet as well. Pulling up the straps of his trademark red suspenders over smooth, bronzed skin, he joined Gabby at the door. The apartment was not at all like it was a year ago; it had then been blank and always inhabiting a cold and lonely feeling. Now, the room was alight with the warm, morning sunshine flooding in from the windows. Lively, bright green leaves tapped lightly onto the window; a tree had managed to grow beautifully outside this apartment.

Noah, who had aged a successful one and a half years, stood leaning onto a chair next to the window, the infant cascaded in a golden ray of sunshine. His big, sapphire blue eyes looked up proudly at Spot. He pointed his arm toward the outside and turned toward Gabby, mumbling gibberish words yet getting out clearly, "mama."

"I know, honey," responded Gabby. She stood behind him and took hold of his reaching hands. She positioned him toward Spot's direction and looked up at him with a proud smile. "You gotta watch!"

Spot eyed her skeptically. Even after a year and a half, he had yet to gain proper knowledge when it came to the development of babies. He watched curiously and anxiously as Noah once again looked up at him. Gabby took a few steps forward, prompting her son to do so as well. Spot watched in anticipation as the infant moved one foot in front of the other, slowly and surely, his eyes still watching his father ambitiously. As Gabby gradually let go of his hands, Spot watched proudly as Noah Conlon took his first steps toward him.

Gabby moved away slowly as if afraid that sudden movement would break the moment. She smiled widely, bursting with excitement, as she watched Spot crouch down and scoop Noah up into his arms when he go there.

"I knew you'd be excited!" she exclaimed, "but I gotta hurry up. Jack and Sarah are coming over for breakfast soon and I have to finish this..."

Spot didn't quite catch what Gabby had said to him, or what she continued to say; he was enraptured with Noah. He spun him around slowly in his arms and let him down again to walk. He put him down and walked a few steps away. The baby let out a high-pitched laugh each time, as if Spot were playing hide and seek with him.

After a few rounds, Spot picked him back up again and sat down on the chair. Noah reached out once more toward the tree growing outside. The Manhattan tree was an odd sight, indeed—there seemed to be no plants for miles around their apartment and here a strong one had taken its place right outside.

Spot watched Noah's fingers grabbing for the outside world eagerly, it was almost inspiring. After having come so close to giving himself up entirely, he would not have wanted to miss this for the world. Too many times he could imagine the feel of that pistol lodged into his chin by Johnny Salvini and it frightened him to think of what might have been, had things not turned out they way they did. It was as if he had played the events out in his mind as they had been occurring; now he wasn't certain of his complete, one hundred percent accuracy, but somehow he had felt Bolt and the rest of his Brooklyn boys in that building. As his little prophecy had played itself out, Bolt had rescued him, and now they were even once more. Salvini was gone forever now and the dreams he woke up to each night were now lighter than ever.

Spot placed his hand on Noah's head, grasping a few locks of his chocolate brown curls. The baby grabbed Spot's necklace and stuffed the key into his mouth. At first disgusted as a line of drool dripped onto his chest, but he laughed to himself. Within a year he had learned the more important things in life—patience was one of them.

"…And I wasn't sure what kind of eggs they liked, so I just went with scrambled," finished Gabby.

Shaking his head back to reality, Spot finally noticed Gabby was ranting an entire conversation with him from the kitchen area. She quickly set the table and balanced the food cooking on the stove as well. Spot got up, set Noah down onto the chair, and walked over to Gabby. He grabbed her by the arms and she immediately stopped moving. He smirked famously and pressed his lips against hers.

"Relax, hon'."

She looked at him and exhaled deeply, her muscles unclenching and her pulse slowing down rapidly. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and they embraced casually as they always did nowadays. Spot kissed her forehead lovingly and they paused for a moment to look at the living room. The sunshine still cascaded into the Manhattan home in all its glory, as if symbolic. From where they were located, Spot swore he could see Brooklyn from there since the bridge wasn't too far in the distance.

Noah had turned himself around and stood leaning on the back of the chair watching the streets and buildings below and around him, his silhouette framed in the window.

Gabby looked up at him with curious eyes. She asked him, "Do you think we got it right?"

Spot looked at her a moment and then at Noah again. He pressed her head against his shoulder, running his fingers tenderly through her hair, and answered sincerely.

"Yeah. I really think we did."