Chapter 12

Alex tried to roll over and stretch when a strong set of arms held her in place. She panicked for a second then realized it was only Bobby. She smiled. She turned slowly so that she was facing him. Seeing him sleeping seemed to set her nerves at ease. He looked so calm when he slept. She touched his cheek softly. "I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered to the quiet room.

Then all at once it hit her that today was the day they were laying Lydia Knightley to rest. A sob wracked her body and Bobby's eyes opened quickly. He pulled her to him. "What's the matter?"

"Lydia's service is today." Her tear filled voice finally broke through. "I hate funerals. I hate them."

"They'd all understand if you didn't go." Bobby's voice was soft as he held her and stroked her hair.

"I'm going." Her head had snapped up and she was glaring at him.

"It was just a suggestion." He patted his chest and her head slowly lowered back in place.

"Bobby, will you come with me?"

"Yes." He continued stroking her hair. "You need me right now. I'm always going to be there for you. Always

Her bedside phone began to ring. Alex lazily picked it up. "Hello." She listened quietly to the voice on the other end of the phone. "I'm fine, Mark." Another pause as she listened. "I'm not going alone." She smiled. "Yeah. I know you promised Andy you'd take care of me. I've got someone to take care of me now. You're off the hook." She brought a hand to her still tired face and wiped away the solitary tear that had slipped down her cheek. "Yeah. Andy would approve. He's good to me." She took Bobby's hand in hers. "Thanks for calling. Tell Beth I'll come by soon. Love you too, Mark."

Bobby's hand tightened on hers. "He's a good guy to keep checking on you like that."

"Yeah. He is. He's the only person in the world that loved Andy the way I did...besides his family I mean. And I still keep in touch with his family. We were only married a little over a year before he...before he died. Undercover operation went bad. The snitch was really just setting him and his partner up. Mark almost died the same night." She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him tighter. "Mark was holding Andy when the ambulance arrived. Wouldn't let him go. I arrived after they'd tried to revive him. Mark was shot in the shoulder, six inches from his heart, and he still managed to keep me from going to Andy. He said Andy didn't want me to see him that way. He held me until I realized he was losing too much blood."

"You miss him a lot, don't you?" Bobby's question was soft.

"I'll always miss him. Finding you has helped me move on. Shown me that bad things happen to good people, but the people who loved them shouldn't feel guilty for falling in love again. That was hard for me the longer I worked with you. I felt that my feelings for you were betraying what we had together. Mark helped me see that Andy wouldn't want me alone. Andy would want me to be happy. With you, I'm happy." She kissed his chest softly.

He took her face in his hands and made her look up at him. "You know that I'd never want to replace Andy in your life, right?"

"Yes." Her eyes closed slowly as she let him stroke her cheek tenderly with his thumbs. "You'd never be able too."

"Good." He pulled her mouth down to his for a slow, gentle kiss.

When the kiss broke, she slowly got up. "I'm going to take a shower."

"I'll get us some breakfast." He kissed her shoulder before standing up and stretching. "Anything you want?"

"I'm not sure I'll be able to eat much, Bobby." She stood and moved closer to him, suddenly wanting to be back in his arms where she felt the safest.

"Just a little..." He said as he put his hands on her hips.

She scrunched her nose. "If you insist."

"You look cute when you do that." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Go get that shower. I'll make us some toast."

"Okay...and coffee?" She'd made her way toward the bathroom.

"Yes, Ms. If -I-Don't-Get-Coffee-I'm-A-Crank." He teased.

"And just what does that mean?" Her face was rigid, but he saw the underlying playfulness deep inside them.

"Just get a shower, Eames." He pushed her inside and pulled the door closed.

"Don't be so pushy." Her giggle didn't escape his ears.

He smiled. He knew she'd pull through this. She could pull through anything.