Later that night after that fight eight months or so into marriage ...

Cali fitfully slept on her side with Hank at her back. Nightmares of past mistakes haunted her dreams, causing her to thrash a bit in bed and waking her husband from his slumber.

He slid an arm around her waist and gently pulled her close to comfort her. She whimpered a little, teetering on the edge of the vortex between sleep and wakefulness.

He held her without speaking, having learned the hard way not to rouse a person in the middle of a bad dream, until she came to. Cali sucked in a deep breath as tears leaked.

"Hey, it's ok," Hank murmured, knowing she would eventually tell him what she was battling when she was ready. She shifted in his arms and buried her face in his shirt, eventually drifting back into a dreamless slumber as he soothed her.

When Cali woke three hours later, the night's events and the nightmares that followed crept into her memory as she lay in bed. She could hear Hank softly snoring and reached out to lightly touch him to assure herself he was really there.

She didn't really have regrets per se, but sometimes the consequences of some choices crept up on her, one being that there would never be a little girl or little boy running around with a part of her and a part of Hank. Not to mention her parents would most likely never be grandparents unless her sister suddenly settled down.

It made her sad to know that her impulsiveness as a young cop had killed her chances of motherhood. She knew it didn't bother Hank since he already raised two kids and had a grandkid, but that the option wasn't there … that's what really bothered her.

Cali suppressed a sigh and forced herself to shake it off. Hank loved her just as she was, and she needed to quit the self-shaming. She opened her eyes and rolled to her side to gaze at the man beside her.

In the waning moonlight, he looked much younger as he slept. She could only imagine what he must have been like at her age. Of course, he had Camille then ...

As if he sensed her watching him, Hank came to and reached for her without opening his eyes.

"Morning," he greeted her in that rough timbre of his, instantly sparking the most wanton parts of her. Cali curled into him, nuzzling and nipping along his jaw.

"Morning," she murmured as her hands skimmed his chest and shoulders. He responded by skimming his hands on her and sliding them underneath her nightshirt, which he promptly stripped her of. She urged his shirt off.

By the time she slid her fingers into his waistband, he flipped her onto her back and shucked his pants. Settling over her, he peered down at her with an adoration she would never understand. She simply smiled at him as she caressed his cheek.

Hank lowered his head and kissed her. Cali moaned into the kiss as he sank into her.

Cali tumbled out of bed—still naked—when she heard the doorbell ring. Hank apparently had already gotten up at some point because she heard his voice downstairs when he answered the door.

She grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand to check the time and realized it was late (for her anyway). She also briefly pondered why her husband had let her sleep in, and furthermore, why was he even still here? He usually cruised into the station before she did.

Snippets of conversation wafted up the stairs as Cali hurriedly dressed and holstered her service weapon on her hip. She paused mid pulling her boots on when she thought she recognized the other male voice.

Dad?

Cali appeared at the top banister to see her father sitting on the couch with her husband. They both looked up when she descended and she could tell something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Where is Mom? What happened?" she demanded as she reached the bottom rung.

Both men stood, Hank hanging back a bit to allow Patrick McDermott to reach Cali first.

"No," she said before her father could open his mouth. She shook her head vehemently. "No, damn it."

His face said it all. He pulled her to him as tears began to fall.

"She didn't suffer," Patrick said as he stroked her head. "She laid down for a nap and just didn't wake up. The doctor determined she had an aneurysm."

Cali cried even harder. "I just talked to her!" she blubbered.

"I know, honey. Sometimes these things happen," Patrick gently said. "She had a good life and she was real proud of you."

After several minutes of weeping and sniffling, Cali pulled out of her dad's arms and gazed at him, red eyed.

"When did this happen?" she asked.

"Yesterday afternoon," he said. "I wanted to tell you in person rather than over the phone. Your sister doesn't even know yet; I've been unable to reach her commanding officer."

She rounded on Hank.

"Did you know?" Cali suddenly accused.

Shocked, Patrick scolded her. "Calista Marie."

Hank soberly shook his head. "Your father called me over an hour ago to say he had just landed at the airport and was on his way to the house with news."

Cali numbly stared at the two most important men in her life. Her mother was gone and her sister was nowhere to be found.

How the hell could this be happening?