Some days were better then others. Luke was amazed at how well Noah was handing the blindness; and considering it was the second time around, when a person could be even angrier at life, he was doing great.

His reaction the last time was to push those people away in his misguided desire to protect them, but he had definitely learnt from that mistake. This time he pulled Luke to him and let those feelings out… allowed Luke to be there for him. And as a result, he was coping far better than ever before, as was Luke.

But there were still times when he would lash out and then he'd spend at least a day in deep depression, chastising himself for it. And it didn't matter how many times Luke told him it was alright, that he was allowed to get mad and break things and yell, that Luke wouldn't love him any less because of it. It was just in Noah's nature to be concerned about how his blindness was affecting the people he loved.

"Okay, we're done!" said Dr Coleson, scribbling something on his chart and popping his pen in his coat pocket.

"So?" asked Luke hopefully, "Any change?"

Noah sat stiff on the exam table, dreading the reply.

"Well, as you both know, I'm no Dr Reid Oliver, but… from what I learnt during my short time with him, this procedure should have worked."

"But…?" asked Noah.

"I don't really have another 'but'. As far as I can tell there's no reason why you shouldn't have regained your sight. However there is still some redness at the back of your eyes, which I believe could be the cause. It may just be a matter of time."

"Okay." Noah whispered, obviously trying not to get too frustrated at this.

"Do you have any other questions before I return to Oakdale?"

"No, thank you for flying down today."

"It's my pleasure and I'll be back in a week."

Luke saw him to the door and Noah searched beside him for his cane before hopping off the table.

"It's all thanks to you, you know?"

"What do you mean?" asked Luke.

"That we even have a small spec of hope right now."

"I don't follow…"

"Well, if it hadn't been for you, Reid would never have gone to Oakdale to operate on me. And it was because of you… because of what you taught him… the effect you had on him… that Reid found the patients to pass on some of his skill to Dr Coleson. He never would have done that if he hadn't met you…"

Luke squeezed his shoulder, "I like to believe he would have."

"Yeah? You just keep believing that Luke!" Naoh responded cheekily.

They both laughed.

"I've kinda been putting off telling work…" Noah said, "…I kept hoping I wouldn't have too. They've called you know? Wanting to know when I'd be back…"

"Noah, you can still finish that movie!"

"How?"

"Babe the filming is done! You know those clips like the back of your hand! You can finish editing that movie without your sight! I know you can!"

"I'm so afraid…" he whispered, trying to keep strong.

Luke hugged him as he began to break down, "I know, but I believe in you."

Noah nodded into his shoulder.

...

Mia had developed a fascination for the daily arrival of post. Despite the fact that she couldn't tell time, she seemed to know exactly when the postman was due, and she would wait by the window, peering out to catch a glimpse of the uniformed man making his way up the street.

"He's here! He's here!" she'd scream with excitement and then wait for somebody to open the door.

"Good morning Mia!" The man would greet with a smile, "How are you today?"

"Hi." She'd reply shyly, hands gripping the sides of her dress as she swayed gently. "Do you have letters?"

"Do I? Well! I don't know… Shall we take a look then?" And she'd nod and stick a finger in her mouth, watching, peering over the top as he searched though his bag of letters and parcels and pulled out the stack for their address.

"Oh yes! Here they are Miss!" He'd announce and then hand the pile to her in a very official manner.

Then one day, after following through with this same procedure and after handing her the usual pile of letters and bills, he made a move as if to tie up his bag and then stopped suddenly. "But wait a minute! What's this?"

Mia's eyes widened as she watched him.

"Looks like there's a letter in here for… Mia…?"

She gasped in surprise, "For me?"

He pulled out a pink envelope with daisies on it and she took it like it was gold.

"Well pretty lady! That's my delivery for the day! See you tomorrow!" He tipped his hat to her and Luke mouthed a hidden thank you to him. He winked and left as Luke closed the door behind him.

She stood there holding the stack of regular letters in one hand and her own pink one in the other.

"You got a letter Mia?" asked Nicholas, having watched her exchange with the postman from the lounge floor, where he was busily building a city of toy blocks and cars.

Without looking away from the letter, Mia stretched her hand up to give Luke the main post before turning on her heals and sprinting off down the passage.

"Noah! Noah! I got a letter! Noah!"

"Noah!" Nicholas yelled too, following her with just as much excitement, "Noah! Mia got-ted a letter!"

Luke shook his head and smiled whispering, "Favouritism."

He browsed through the stack in his hands. Most of the envelopes were clearly bills but one of them stood out immediately. It was stamped "LA Daily News." He frowned at it, wondering what it could be about, expecting some advertisement for subscription, but when he read the letter he could barely contain his surprise.

...

Dear Mr Snyder

As you can imagine we receive all kinds of letters, books and articles from readers on a daily basis, and it would be impossible for me to read them all. In fact it is rare that those I do get time to read actually grab me or compel me to reply.

However, I would like to thank you for sending me the segments of your writing. I found them to be exceedingly enjoyable, emotional and truthful. You have a very distinctive style, so much so that I believe you have the makings of a fine reporter.

As it would seem that your aim is to become an author, I don't imagine you would be interested in a reporting position here at LA Daily News, but I am writing to offer you one.

If you find my proposition interesting, I would be most please to make your acquaintance at your earliest convenience. Please find my contact details below.

I do hope to hear from you.

Yours sincerely

...

It was signed J.S Dimbleby, Editor-in-Chief.

By this point Luke had lost all feeling in his legs and had dropped down onto a chair by the dining table. His hands were actually shaking.

"Luke, are you in here?"

He looked up and watched as Noah felt his way through the door, followed by the kids; Mia still holding her letter tightly between her fingers. "Mia got a letter and she needs help to read it."

"She's not the only one that got a letter." Luke said softly his eyes glued to Noah.

"No?"

Since Luke knew Noah couldn't see the look on his face; couldn't see all the amazement and love in his eyes, he got up, walked over to him and kissed him hard on the lips.

"Okay!" Noah laughed as they broke apart, "Wow! What was that for?"

"For being incredible!"

Picking up on the chocked sound in Luke's voice Noah felt up his face frowning with worry, "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"You sent transcripts of my book to the Daily News?"

Noah looked tentative, obviously not sure whether Luke was happy about it, "Yes. I sent it to all the newspapers. I thought they should know how amazing you are."

Luke shook his head and bit his lower lip.

"Did you get a reply?" Noah asked.

"Noah!"

"What? What is it? Come on Luke I'm DYING over here!"

Luke hugged him, "They want to train me as a reporter."

There was laughter in his voice. It was like a dream.

"What?" Noah squeezed him tighter.

"I have a letter from the Editor! He wants to meet me! He wants to offer me a job on the paper!"

Noah laughed and said, "That's fantastic! I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you!"

"You deserve it!"

"Well… it's not a done deal yet but… god I'd love that job!"

"Luke!" Nicholas asked, pulling at the bottom of his shirt, getting impatient, "Read Mia's letter, Luke… please!"

"Oh yes!" said Noah remembering, "Mia got a letter!"

"I saw!" Said Luke, giving Noah one last peck on the mouth before taking Mia by the hand and sitting with her on the couch, "Well, open it up and I'll read it to you, okay?"

Mia clumsily tore the envelope off and pulled out the matching pink writing paper.

"Dear Mia," Luke read, "I have been watching you from my place up in the sky with the stars. You are a very special little girl that brightens the life of one postman everyday when he delivers the mail to your door. I wanted to write a letter to you, Mia, to say thank you for being so wonderful." He smiled at her, "Lots of love from the Man in the Moon."

"The Man in the MOON!" yelled Nicholas excitedly, "WOW!"

"That's amazing baby!" agreed Noah, taking a seat in the opposite armchair. "I've never heard of anybody getting an actual letter from him!"

Mia stared down at the letter in awe, lifted her eyes to Luke and beamed at him with such an incredible smile he thought his heart might stop.

When he didn't, couldn't, say anything for quite some time Noah asked, "Luke?"

Luke let out a breathy laugh as Mia jumped from his lap to join Nicholas on the floor with all the cars.

"She just smiled at me…"

That was all he needed to say, he could tell Noah understood exactly how he felt because he nodded with a soft smile of his own.

...

"Neeowww!" squealed Josh, imitating the sound of an aeroplane as he ran through the house with Nicholas sitting atop his shoulders, ducking low under the doorways to avoid knocking the child's head.

Nicholas screamed with laughter as he clawed onto the top of Josh's head to keep from falling off.

"Oh no!" Josh announced, "Enemy aircraft approaching! Quick right turn!"

"Ahhhhh!" yelped Nicholas.

Josh started to jolt back and forward, "Mayday, Mayday, we've been hit! Pilot ejecting!"

Josh gripped Nicholas under his arms and lifted him quickly, throwing him up towards the ceiling so that he landed with a bounce on the couch, collapsing on him and blowing raspberries into his tummy. The child's face was flushed and his eyes wet from the laughter.

"STOP!" he giggled, "JOSH! STOP! IT TICKLES!"

"Hey you guys! Keep it down will you? Mia's sleeping!" Noah smiled from the armchair, where he had been listening to music.

Luke sat typing at the dining room table.

"Sorry." Josh whispered, out of breath.

"Yeah sowwy!" Nicholas imitated.

Since staying with Luke and Noah, Josh found himself becoming more and more attached to the little guy. At first Nicholas had been very suspicious of his presence in the house, always standing a few feet away, but always somehow interested in the older boy. Josh could feel his little eyes studying his every move.

Eventually, especially after Casey and Alison finally left for Oakdale, Nicholas started to ask Josh questions about the things he did. Like when he waxed up his surfboard (stolen out of his father's garage one day when he knew they wouldn't be there). But now Nicholas followed him all over the house, talking to him incessantly and Josh enjoyed playing with him. Although there were times when he just wanted some peace... The kid certainly knew how to talk!

The doorbell rang and Josh shot up, "I'll get it!"

"Yeah! We'll get it!" Nicholas repeated and Josh laughed at how cute he was, copying the way he walked to the door.

It was his mother.

He wasn't sure how he felt on seeing her. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since the night he left the house. She hadn't made any effort to visit him, nor had she even phoned to find out how he was. And that hurt. He and his mother had always been close, sharing everything. But he guessed this was one thing she didn't want to share.

"Hello Josh."

His heart was frozen, "What are you doing here?"

Nicholas immediately backed away, nervous at the tone of Josh's voice.

"I'd like a moment of your time. If that's okay?" she asked.

"It's a little late isn't it?"

She shook her head, "Josh please don't be like this."

"Where's Dad?"

"He doesn't know I'm here…"

Josh snorted with disdain, "Figures! And he's not going to know, right? Because you certainly aren't going to stand up to him and tell him what a complete asshole he is!"

"Josh!" it was Noah from behind him, "Don't talk to your mother that way."

"Well I didn't ask her to come here, did I?" Josh was suddenly angry. Noah was supposed to be on HIS side.

Luke approached the door, "Hello Marion. Would you like to come in?"

"Luke!" Josh began.

"Josh, this is our house and your mother is welcome here."

Josh frowned and Luke sighed at him.

"Hey?" he said more gently, squeezing his shoulder, "She's trying. Give her a break."

Josh looked back to his mother and couldn't deny the pain in her eyes so he nodded.

She came in slowly, her eyes instantly falling on Noah and filling with tears, "I'm so… I can't even say it because it's just meaningless…"

Noah nodded in acknowledgement, standing up from his chair.

"His hearing is on Wednesday." She told them, nervously pushing her blonde hair behind one ear. "The lawyer expects… since he doesn't have a past record… that he'll get a year with probation. Thank you for not pressing charges."

"WHAT!" Josh exclaimed, feeling his blood start to boil, "You didn't press charges?"

"Josh…" Noah said softly.

"Why not? Why didn't you? After what the bastard did you're letting him off?"

"Your family has been hurt enough Josh. This isn't just about him."

"But…"

"Your father has a whole family to support. Do you really want to take that away from your mom? From your sisters?"

Josh sighed, of course he didn't.

"It's already going to be a hard year on them; we don't need to make it worse. What your father did is wrong and he's going to pay the price for it. Enough of a price… Okay?"

"Okay." He said softly.

"Can we talk?" his mother half begged.

"I really don't have anything to say to you."

"Okay, but I have stuff to say to you… to ask you…"

Josh glared at her but didn't counter her.

"Come on kids; let's go for a walk to the beach!" Luke announced.

"Yeah!" Nicholas exclaimed and they spent a few minutes putting on shoes. Luke handed Noah his cane and they left the house.

The door closed and Josh started to feel claustrophobic.

"Shall we sit?" his mother asked, pointing to the couch. Josh sat on one end and his mother took the other, her hands in her lap. It was then that Josh noticed the overnight bag she had with her.

She caught him looking. "Oh… I brought some of your things… I thought it only right… um… I guess Luke and Noah have been buying you clothes?"

Josh nodded, "Yeah, they've been great. Amazing actually."

She nodded sadly.

"So…?" Josh asked, "Do YOU believe me? Do you believe that I'm gay?"

"I'm sorry for the way things happened… when you told us… I've never seen your father like that! And… if I'm truthful… it's difficult Josh… for me…"

"Oh? And it's just a walk in the park for me?"

"No… of course not! Your father and I, we… we grew up believing..."

"That it's wrong?"

She looked at him sadly.

"I thought you might understand Mom. I mean… you don't seem to mind Luke and Noah…"

She sniffed, "It's different… it's not YOU! I just always imagined you getting married and having a few kids…"

"I can still do all that Mom! Just look at Luke and Noah! They love each other… I mean REALLY love each other and their kids…"

She shook her head and sighed, "I just don't understand this…"

"At least accept it then… accept me… accept it when I say that I can't change it…"

"I want you to come home."

She had just avoided his plea and he knew it. He felt a stab through his gut but he decided to hide it.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Your father's going to prison. That's a certainty. While he's there, I'd like you to come home please. It's where you belong."

"Does he know you're asking me?"

Her eyes were pleading as she shook her head.

"It's not going to suddenly go away, you know Mom? You think that by the time Dad gets out, I'll have changed my mind and we can go back to being the perfect family, right?"

She couldn't hold back her tears then. He watched her through tears of his own.

"I think for now I'd like to stay here with Luke and Noah. At least until you can accept me for who I am. Thanks for the clothes. Can I drop by sometime for my other things?"

Her breath shuddered as she nodded. She took a tissue from her bag, blew her nose and rose to leave.

She turned to him on the doorstep, "I do love you."

"No you don't. Not the REAL me…"

"Maybe when you come by we can at least spend some time together? I really do want to understand…"

"Maybe."

"Okay. Will you tell Luke and Noah I said thank you? And I'll phone to talk to them about your upkeep. I can send them money. And if you need anything…"

"Sure."

His heart was breaking but he didn't want her to see it. It felt like she was selling him off, but then she surprised him but hugging him and kissing his cheek and he felt a small flicker of hope that maybe one day should would come round.

...

Luke wasn't sure what Nicholas and Mia were up to, but they'd been whispering together at Noah's feet for more than an hour, obviously busily drawing something. He was surprised, because Nicholas didn't usually share his drawings. Mia could look at them, but she was not permitted to scribble on the same page he was busy with, because in his opinion Mia didn't know how to draw.

"Hmm we have ourselves an art critic as well as an artist!" Noah had teased the first time they witnessed Nicholas telling Mia to keep to her own picture.

Luke was merrily ticking away on his laptop and smiling to himself. He knew that rhythm meant he was on a roll… his creative juices were flowing. He was extremely excited to meet with Mr Dimbleby from the newspaper the following day. He really hoped it worked out. And it was all thanks to his amazing husband.

"Noah we made you a picture…" said Mia suddenly climbing up on Noah's right side.

"You did?" and Luke turned just in time to catch the look of sadness on his face, which he quickly masked for the sake of the kids.

"Yes!" Nicholas scrambled up his other leg and pressed the page into his hand.

Noah breathed deeply, obviously feeling that usual sense of loss at his inability to see the picture presented to him with so much care and love.

"Well, can you tell me what it is? Can you help me to see it?"

"I draw-ded Grandma Emma and she's feeding the chickens…"

"Lovely!" Said Noah, "What else?"

"Grandma Emma's basket has eggs and flowers in it…"

"Aha?"

"And there's birds!" said Mia.

"Wow! You drew a lot in this picture, didn't you?"

"Yeah and I draw-ded a horse too! And there are trees and under the trees Mia draw-ded…"

"…a rabbit…" Noah almost whispered the word.

Luke had since stopped paying full attention to their dialogue, so it took him a moment to process and make sense of what he was sure he just heard. His head shot up in Noah's direction and the blue eyes were staring right at him, clear, blinking against the brightness, welling up and shining.

"Noah?" Luke asked, hoping, praying he wasn't imagining it…

"It was like a curtain… like a curtain opening…" Noah smiled that amazing smile from within a deep breath and started to sob with happiness.

Luke flew across the room, knelt before them all and drew Noah into an overjoyed hug, "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

He pulled back and read those eyes that had been closed to him for too long, "Welcome back bubby."

"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?"

"Yes!"

"Well you are! You are one hell of a sight for sore eyes!"

They laughed and hugged again.

"Hey!" laughed Nicholas, getting squashed into the chair under Noah's arm.

"Sorry Nicky!" Luke said pulling back.

"What's happening?" asked a confused Mia.

"Mia!" Noah said, taking her small chin in his fingers and studying her face before kissing her forehead. Then he turned to Nicholas and laughed, "Nicky!" He looked down at the paper still in his hands, "This is a stunning picture! This is one to keep forever!"

Nicholas frowned at Noah, completely unable to comprehend what had gotten the two men so excited.

"I can see you baby!" Noah told him.

"You can see?" asked Mia.

"Yes! I can… and you are all so beautiful!" he laughed again, "God, I'm so happy!"

Luke laughed back, kissed him and uttered, "Oh, Noah! Same here!"

...

Please let me know what you thought of his story.

Look out for a new instalment in the LA Series to follow...