"Do you know how much work it was to get the Director to agree with allowing your team to have a probie join you?" Erin asked as David slipped into bed that evening after returning from checking on Catherine and Elise.

"I can only imagine, stellina, but she's whip smart, and she has the sort of experience with serial killers that we don't. And it's going to be good for the team to have young blood with it once more. There's a different energy that comes with youth. And…"

"There's more?" she asked drolly as she turned on her side to look at him, curving her arm around his waist as she scooted a little closer to him.

"Yeah. I…may have invited her over to play video games with Bruce and me. I thought that it would be a good way to make her feel included, since we're all so tight. I know, I probably should have asked you first, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

Erin shook her head a little as she leaned in, kissing him softly. "You are so lucky that I love you so much."

"I really am, Erin. So, am I forgiven for offering up our house to our newest little probie?"

She gave him a small nod before plastering herself closer to his body, welcoming his leg around her legs as they melted together. These were the moments that she truly lived for, quiet and gentle. They didn't come often enough for her liking, since they both had such difficult jobs, made all the worse for the exploits that his team insisted on participating in. "David?"

"Yes, Erin?"

"Nothing." There was a pause in the air, as if he didn't believe that there was nothing to discuss and then he leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. "Well, it's not nothing, I suppose, but I don't know how to put this into words?"

"Take your time, Erin. We've crawled into bed a little earlier than normal, so we have some time to talk."

She nodded as she spread her hand out on his back, drumming her fingertips against the skin there. Her breathing started to come out a little more harshly to her ears, and she knew that she was about to start crying, and she didn't want to give in to those emotions. "I hate not wanting to celebrate Catherine's first birthday. The children asked why I hadn't planned a party yet for her, and I didn't have the heart to tell them that I'm in a funk that I don't know how to get out of. I don't know how Aaron is dealing with everything, since Jack and Elise's birthday is so close to his and Catherine's, and also…"

Her voice cracked before she began to sob, and then David was crushing her to his chest, stroking her hair tenderly as he crooned in her ear. There was something soothing about the sound, and she allowed it to fill her senses as she struggled to calm herself down. "There are times when I feel completely stupid, Erin, and this is one of them," he murmured before pressing a series of short, soft, kisses to the planes of her face.

"Why?"

"Because I never thought about how everything had come together at this point of time. November is a terribly great month in our lives." She nodded, rubbing her cheek against his chest as she took a few deep breaths. "We have so many reasons to celebrate, and a truly great reason to mourn." His hand slipped between their bodies to creep beneath the shirt she was wearing, travelling upwards until he had reached the scar on her shoulder. "You have this constant physical reminder of the evil that Foyet inflicted upon us, and I can't imagine how you're feeling right now. Have you, that is, do you think that it might be time for you to finally open up to someone? Someone who can professionally help you?"

"I don't know if I can do that. I've been on my own for so long that it's more comfortable to just quietly bleed than allow another person to see the wound and help patch me up." David let out a sad sound of sympathy as he stroked her scar with his thumb, and another choked sob tore from her throat as she buried her face in the soft hair of his chest. "I'm trying so hard to keep from falling, but it feels like there's just so much coming down around my shoulders. Especially since you chose to invite Ms. Seaver onto your team."

"It wasn't just me, babe. We all came to the consensus that she would be a good fit."

"Babe? Really?"

He chuckled a little as he dropped a quick kiss to the top of her head. "I know, but it just slipped out. You'll always be my stellina. I wish that I knew how to help you more."

"You help me just be listening to me when I do open up, and by indulging my silences. You might have to keep a closer eye on me."

"Why?"

"Now that Catherine is almost fully weaned, it will be easy for me to just quietly slip into a bottle. We don't talk about it, but my mother had a drinking problem when I was a teenager. I know that I have the propensity for that to happen with me. And it scares me, David. Because I don't want to become that failed, weak, version of my mother. Before you berate me, those were her words after she came back from Betty Ford. I don't want to give up the freedom of a drink every once in a while, but I know that I have to be so careful about my alcohol consumption."

"Of course," he said quietly as he slipped his hand around to her back, rubbing small circles in an effort to soothe her. "I love you."

"I love you, too, and I am so glad that you choose us. I know I've said that a million times, but each time I feel like it's the first time. You have no idea how much I need you in my life."

"Probably as much as I need you in mine. The family that we've created is exactly what I was craving from life. After we lost James, I assumed that I would never have a chance at being a father, and now I have more kids than my parents did. What we've created is beautiful, Erin, and I just want you to know that I will always be here for this." She nodded as quieter tears started to slip down her cheeks, finding herself so overwhelmed by love for him. She hadn't been able to truly open up about what she was feeling about the upcoming anniversary of Haley's murder and Catherine's birthday, but the discussion that they had had was a balm to her wounded heart. A wide yawn tore from her lungs as she nuzzled her face against his chest, welcoming the way that he held her tighter to his chest as he pulled the duvet up to their shoulders before kissing her softly. "Go to sleep, Erin. I'll watch over you until you do." Erin nodded as she curled up even closer to him, letting sleep overtake her as she thought about the coming weeks, and how she would try to make it a beautiful holiday season for her children despite how grey she was feeling.