AN: Here is a new installment. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 12

Thanksgiving was the respite they both needed badly. By Sunday, when they were on their way back home, Elizabeth chatted most of the way and they both enjoyed all of the loving attention that Benny got from his grandparents and aunts and uncle.

When they were coming up on the exit for Middletown, Elizabeth quieted, and Henry caught it immediately. "Do you want to go see her?" he asked.

"I think I should, but I don't think I can handle it, not today, and not after the past month or so. She can wait." Henry nodded, thankful that she felt the same way because he was worried that he might have to try to talk her out of going.

"Do you think Will would come to my parents' house for Christmas?" Henry asked suddenly. "At least for a few days? I'm sure Mom wouldn't mind and it would do you guys some good to spend a little time together. Don't you think? Will needs to know his nephew."

"Maybe. Do you think he'd come?" Elizabeth seemed hopeful.

"I think you should invite him. I'll double check, but I'm sure Mom will be up for it and Dad probably won't notice an extra person. He'll think it's another boyfriend of Maureen's." Elizabeth laughed.

They were back home about an hour when Elizabeth noticed her backpack hanging on the hook by the door. She turned to Henry with a look of sheer horror, that scared Henry to death. "What?"

"My classes. I haven't done work in I don't even know how long. There's no way I can catch up even if my professors will let me turn things in late. My scholarship!" She collapsed onto the couch. She might have cried, but she was too stunned. "How did I get so bad that I forgot about school?"

"You're fine, babe. Don't worry. You're not behind. I took care of it. You can just start on this week's stuff tomorrow." Henry stepped over to check Benny before sitting down next to her, taking her hand. "It's okay."

"But, how, Henry? There's no way. I had probably four papers and a test before Thanksgiving."

"You had five papers and a test, and they're done. I did them. I wrote them like you would write them and Calculus sucks, so you're going to have to do a little work to get that grade as high as you had it, but I got a tutor and tried my best. You definitely won't lose your scholarship, which was my goal."

Elizabeth stared open mouthed at him. "Henry, that's cheating. You could be kicked out. How did you do your work and mine?" She was in disbelief.

"I was not going to let you lose your scholarship over something that you had no control over. You worked too hard to get here. You deserve to stay. That, and your grades probably ended up being lower with me doing your assignments anyway, so it's not like you were gaining much having me do your work."

"How are your grades?" she asked. "I hope yours didn't fall trying to keep mine up."

"My scholarship is fine. And so are my grades. We're both fine. I told you I was with you for always. Babe, you weren't in a good place, but I didn't think twice about picking you up and carrying your load. It wasn't easy, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I love you, Elizabeth McCord."

"You are such a good man Henry. I'm not sure how I ended up being the luckiest girl in the world, but I'm here and I promise that I won't let you forget how much I love you." She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him to her. She kissed him hard. It was unrelenting, and passion coursed through their veins. Suddenly, she let him go and looked at her watch. "I think we have roughly 40 minutes before Benny wakes. What do you say we consummate our marriage?" He laughed and then saw that she was serious. "I want to be with you. I'm ready."

Henry was shocked. "I don't know if that is a good idea. You're just coming from a really low place and I don't want you to feel taken advantage of at some point." He watched her expression cloud. "It's not that I don't want to. God knows I want to, but I want to make sure you're in a good place first."

Elizabeth was disappointed, but she couldn't really argue with this logic. "Can we just make out until Benny wakes up then?" she winked and Henry was done. He grinned and pushed her down on the couch, pinning her there and she laughed. It was such a beautiful sound that Henry forced himself to stop and take it in. There was a period of time when he didn't know if he'd ever get to hear her laughter and he was happy he had and would get to again and again.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm just so happy you are feeling better. At the time, I was just surviving, trying to keep us all afloat, but now that I have you back and see how bad it was, I don't ever want to do that again. Henry rested his forehead against hers. "I love you more than I can even tell you."

Over the next three weeks Elizabeth had some days that were tougher than others but overall she was much improved and Henry made sure she saw someone to devise strategies for dealing with the bad days. She was able to cut back to an average dose of the Xanax and when she saw the OB, Dr. Brooke made her next appointment for 2 months out and they would discuss cutting back even further.

Elizabeth finished her first semester with a 4.0 GPA, although she was pretty sure she had the bell curve to thank for her A in calculus. She didn't think it was mathematically possible to get the A on her own merit. To thank Henry for all he had done, she wanted to give him a special evening. The upstairs neighbor, Sarah, offered to keep Benny for a few hours, and Elizabeth went and picked up take out from a local Chinese place. When Henry came back to the apartment late that Friday afternoon in December, his last final completed, he opened the door to find the front room bathed in candle light and the table covered in a tablecloth with candles and plates of food already set out.

"Elizabeth," he called, both confused and overwhelmed by what was happening in that moment. She emerged from the bedroom wearing a beautiful navy dress that clung to her body, which had taken some shape since she started eating healthy food and being active again. He forced himself to blink, dropping his backpack and coat on the chair nearest the door. "You look gorgeous," he whispered before kissing her and hugging her tightly. "Where's-?" he started.

"At Sarah's for a while. We owe her some babysitting when she and David want to go out for their anniversary next month. But, we need to do some celebrating of our own tonight." Elizabeth pressed herself against Henry's chest and kissed him slowly. "We made it Henry. We got married and started college, had a baby, and survived. I couldn't have done it without you." She kissed him again. "Let's eat," she said pulling him to the table.

Twenty minutes passed and they had emptied all of the take out boxes and talked about all of their finals and end of semester stuff that needed to be taken care of. She rose from the table with the containers to place them in the trash can, when she was suddenly overcome by nervousness. Henry sensed it right away and finished by grabbing the glasses off of the table and meeting her in the kitchen. She was standing at the kitchen sink, staring out into the darkness that early evening now brought. Henry slipped in behind her and rested his large hands on her hips, his fingers splayed across her lower abdomen. He felt the hitch in her breath. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I've been waiting for this for a while now, and I just want it to be perfect, for you," she said softly.

Henry shook his head. "No matter what it is, it will be perfect because it is you and me." He removed his hand and held it out for her. She placed her hand in his and let him lead her to the bedroom.

When Henry emerged a couple hours later to go upstairs and collect Benny, he left Elizabeth in bed lightly dozing. She yawned and stretched when Henry returned, placing a squirming Benny next to her. Benny calmed immediately, snuggling against her chest. Elizabeth looked up at Henry in amazement. "It doesn't seem like that long ago that my entire world was falling apart. Now, I'm here with you and Benny, and I don't see how my life could be any more put together than it is in this moment. I love our family, and I have you to thank Henry."

Henry sat on the edge of the bed. "I could say the exact same thing, only I'd say it about you. You are Benny are the best things that could ever happen to me. I love you both so much." He kissed her forehead. "I say we get Benny his bottle and put him down for the night and you and I recreate the past couple hours."

"Sounds like a plan McCord." she said giggling.

The next day, they packed up and made the long drive to Pittsburgh where they planned to spend the next month. Evelyn was overjoyed to see them and Patrick swooped in and took Benny away immediately. Elizabeth looked around and her hand flew up to her mouth. Strings of garland and lights topped every window. The mantle over the fireplace was covered in white batting to look like snow and had a full Christmas village set up and their tree was huge with twinkling lights and icicle strands and beautiful ornaments covering it. She hadn't seen Christmas look like this since she was 14. It was gorgeous and it made her so happy and so sad at the same time. She smiled, but tears ran down her face.

"Elizabeth?" Henry asked.

"I just-it's been a long time is all. It makes me happy and sad. It's one of those things I didn't realize just how much I missed until I have it back again." She looked at Evelyn. "Thank you." She wrapped the woman up in a hug.

"You're very welcome, but I'm not the big Christmas person in this family. You'll need to speak to Patrick for that."

Elizabeth turned and grinned at Patrick. "You definitely do Christmas right. It's beautiful." She crossed the room and gave him a hug, trying not to smash Benny cradled in his arms.

"Well, we have all this stuff. We might as well put it all out," Patrick half huffed.

"Go ahead and ask him why we have all this stuff," Evelyn cut in. "It certainly wouldn't be because I bought it.

"I just pick up a couple things a year, nothing big," he countered.

Evelyn grinned. "A couple of things a year, times twenty years equals a lot of Christmas." Everyone laughed.

"Well, I for one am in the Patrick McCord Christmas camp. Maybe we can do something crafty tomorrow." She looked hopefully at Henry.

"Tomorrow is baking day, so get your cookie decorating skills honed tonight, because you are going to need them tomorrow," Evelyn said. Elizabeth grinned ear to ear.

Elizabeth spent the next week helping Evelyn clean the house and tie up loose ends. Henry went back to the construction company he'd worked for in the summer. They had a few indoor projects they were trying to finish before the holidays as well. Erin and Shane still had school, and Maureen and Patrick had work, so for most of the week it was just Elizabeth, Benny and Evelyn. Grammy, as she preferred to be called, doted on Benny, hardly letting Elizabeth do anything with him. It was sweet, but Elizabeth was also a little jealous, although she would never admit it, so she ended up staying up well into the night holding him.

It was four days before Christmas and Elizabeth was frustrated. She'd called Will three times over the last few days and he refused to return her calls. She hadn't seen him since August before school started. He hadn't been able to leave when Benny was born and she hadn't called him in the weeks following because of her depression, but after Thanksgiving, she had called and talked to him for quite a while and invited him to the McCords. He'd been ambivalent at best and brushed her off. She'd spoken to him one other time and he dodged the question. Now she had no idea what he was doing and she was more than a little pissed off.

She had just called for the second time that morning and the boy she talked to told her that Will left early, but he had no idea where he was off to. He wished her a Merry Christmas and hung up. "Damn him," she muttered under her breath. Just then the doorbell rang and Evelyn called out, saying she was changing Benny's diaper, and asked Elizabeth to get it. Elizabeth set the phone down and plodded across the living room to answer the door.

She opened the door and nearly fell over at the sight of Will standing on the porch. "Hey sis. Merry Christmas," he said, opening his arms, like he was the surprise. It was Will that was surprised when Elizabeth nearly tackled him in a hug.

"Damn you for not telling me," she said, pulling him inside.

"Withholding information must be a genetic trait," he deadpanned. Elizabeth punched him in the arm and he shoved her back. She couldn't pretend to really be mad though. She was too happy to have him with her.

"How long are you staying?" she asked warily. She knew Will well enough to know that he would have made plans to go skiing in Vermont with friends, or mountain biking in the southwest or some other ridiculous activity all of the rich kids at Houghton Hall engaged in. Even when Will considered her in his plans, he usually only could stand to allot two or three days at best. Three days wouldn't even get him to Christmas.

"My bus ticket is for January 1st." Will said smugly. "You have to put up with me almost an entire two weeks." Elizabeth couldn't help herself and she hugged him again.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He grinned, "Henry told me that unless I want Benny to end up exactly like you, I need to put in some man-hours as the more normal Adams element, to save him from his mother. So, consider Will training commenced. Where is the little baby blob anyway?"

Elizabeth elbowed him. "Don't be a jerk." On cue, Evelyn appeared in the doorway. "Evelyn, this is my brother, Will, and this is Henry's mother, Evelyn McCord. And this," she said, taking the baby from her mother-in-law's arms, "is your nephew, Benjamin Patrick McCord, or Benny."

Will made eye contact with Evelyn first. "Thank you Mrs. McCord for allowing me to stay here. I really appreciate it." He shook her hand and flashed her a wide Adams smile, and Elizabeth saw exactly how it was that Will was offered invitations to all of his friends' homes. He was a charmer.

"And how are you little man?" he asked, peering into the blanket that Benny was wrapped in. Benny screwed up his face, turned bright red and pooped, causing Elizabeth to burst into hysterics.

"Benny's got Uncle Will figured out already!" she joked. "Good news is that you can cross diaper changing off your list right away. Come on."

When Henry walked through the door just before dinnertime that evening, he saw a scene before him that he didn't think he'd ever see. Will was sitting cross-legged on the couch receiving instruction from Shane about how best to burp Benny and he could see Elizabeth in the kitchen helping his mom and Erin fix dinner. The whole scene was surreal. Henry's old family and his new family merged into one home. There was an extreme sense of satisfaction that he felt. He didn't know he wanted it, but now that he had it, he knew how lucky he was.

Elizabeth emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Hey babe! I didn't hear the door." She approached him. "How was your day?" He shrugged. It was the same old job. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. "I bet you want to change. How about we go upstairs?" She took Henry's hand and started leading him in that direction. "Will, Shane, can you keep track of Benny for a few minutes? I'm going upstairs for a minute."

Once she and Henry were in their room, Elizabeth closed the door and pushed Henry against it. "Thank you." Henry looked confused. "I don't know what you said to Will but he's going to spend his whole break here, with me, with Benny, with us. That hasn't happened since the last Christmas my parents were alive. Thank you." She hugged him tightly, her pushing deeply against his chest.

"I would do anything to make you happy, Elizabeth. Don't ever forget that," he said. Then, he pushed her shoulders off of his chest, giving him access to kiss her properly.

Later that evening, Elizabeth sat on the floor with Henry's feet on either side of her, along with Benny, who was taking up residence in Maureen's lap, and Will and all of Henry's family including, Maureen's new boyfriend, Tom. Elizabeth liked him and hoped he stayed around a while. It was loud and joyful and such a stark contrast to how Elizabeth had spent holidays in the years since her parents passed, she wasn't exactly sure how to process it. Overwhelming, yes, but so warm and welcoming and lovely. For the first time in four years, Elizabeth's heart was overflowing and she couldn't have been happier