"I would have thought you'd know better than that," Hallie Regan whispered to her new husband.

She opened her eyes and caught him standing at the bedroom door, quickly slipping something behind his back. "If the sound of your big clunking boots didn't give you away, the smell of gardenias certainly did, Bill."

"No one could ever pull one over on you, huh?" He laughed softly.

"And, don't you forget it," she teased. The raven haired beauty propped herself up in their bed and looked him up and down. "It's not my birthday, and it's certainly not our anniversary. We haven't even been married two full months yet, so…what are the flowers for?"

"Because…I love you," Bill Regan stated simply.

It was something he'd never imagined could happen to him. It was something he never thought he deserved. But, sure as he was standing there in the light of dawn, he was in love. And, he knew the woman he adored loved him in return. The joy of it had caused him to uncharacteristically gather flowers for her during his early morning ride.

"Do you like any of these?" He pulled the bouquet out from its hiding place behind him and felt a surge of satisfaction when he saw Hallie's eyes light up.

"Oh! How beautiful!" She tenderly took them from him, fingering and smelling each one.

"The back meadow is full of different kinds. Must have been a regular garden to someone who owned the land before us." Regan smiled at her joy.

"Then, we should keep it as a garden," Hallie decided, mesmerized by the wide array of colors, shapes, and textures in her hands.

Suddenly, her brow furrowed, and she looked up expectantly at Bill.

"You don't already have plans for that pasture, do you?"

"No. Not at all. And I promise I won't let Mart plow down the flowers to plant his spinach, either." Regan sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned close to engage Hallie in a tender kiss.

"Sounds good." Hallie's words were soft murmurs against his lips as the two began to lose themselves in each other.

"Ugggh!" Regan suddenly groaned and forced himself to pull away from her. "We've got to stop this or I won't have everything ready for Matt's visit tomorrow." He let his laughter show her he wasn't angry, but he couldn't stop his frustration from showing in his hands. They immediately began to wring themselves as soon as he released his hold on her.

"Nervous?" She asked softly.

"A little," Regan admitted. Although Matthew Wheeler was now his business partner and no longer his employer, having the older man come to check the progress of their newly established horse ranch made the younger man feel as if he were still a subordinate. He was anxious at the thought of possibly disappointing Matthew in any way.

I just don't want to let him down.

"He'll love what you've done, Darling," Hallie encouraged, "I just know it." She reached up, smoothed a stray lock of red hair from his brow, pulled him close, and kissed him once more. "There's no one else on earth who could have done any better with this place than you. This is your calling."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

"We make a pretty good team."

"Yeah."

More gentle kissing followed his response, causing Hallie to giggle against his mouth.

"I thought you said you had something to do."

"It can wait," Bill breathed.

Immediately, his words brought a gasp from Hallie, and she pulled back when he touched her again.

"What's wrong?" Regan asked, knowing already by the look on her face that she was thinking about Dan.

"Nothing," she lied. "I don't want to stop you from your work."

"Come on. You know I don't buy that. What is it? Something I just said reminded you of Dan, didn't it?"

Hallie's face flushed, and she tried to change the subject by jumping up and gathering her things for a shower.

"No, no. It's nothing. I …I slept too late, and we both have things we have to do…"

Bill caught her waist as she tried to move past him, pulling her carefully into his lap.

"Now, you're the one who should know better," he said softly in her ear. He nuzzled the back of her neck as she melted against him.

Neither of them moved for a moment, and then Hallie sat back, swallowed down a choking sob, and lifted her sorrowful blackberry eyes to his green ones.

"I promised you I'd never compare you to him. I…don't want you to get the wrong idea."

"Whatever it is…you can tell me. Just like that night at Maypenny's. Remember? I didn't judge you then, and I won't judge you now." Bill was surprised at how secure he actually felt in that statement. Their marriage had given him new confidence.

As if she thought he needed further reassurance, Hallie wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"I love you so much. I do. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes," Bill said gently into her hair. He knew she loved him. And he also knew the guilt she was feeling, because he often felt it, too. It was hard for them to enjoy their love when they still missed Dan.

"It's not because of…the time he said it…it's just…the words were the same, and…"

By the way she was trying so hard to minimize her emotions, Bill decided he knew what this was all about.

"Let me guess…it was something he said that night when…as you put it…the two of you almost went too far. Is that it?"

His wife's soft chuckle through her watery smile was answer enough to his question.

"I don't compare you to him…I promise you. I mean… Dan and I never even…"

"It's okay," Bill soothed. "I understand."

And he did.

That's what made the moment so poignant for them both. There was a deep and comfortable knowledge passing between them which needed no further explanation. In light of that truth, they sat in silence a while longer, clinging to one another. Then, Hallie spoke again.

"Bill?"

"Yes?"

"There's something else that happened the night Dan and I made out in your old apartment. I…I've been trying to find the right time to talk to you about it, but…it never felt right. Something has always stopped me. And, lately, I've been seeing and hearing things that seem like signs for me to go ahead and do this. Things like what you said a minute ago, and how it sounded…just like Dan. But, I…I just don't even know how to…begin."

Bill could tell his wife was profoundly troubled by what was on her mind and it broke his heart.

"Like I said before, you can tell me anything."

Hallie slowly traced his angular jaw line with a gracefully long finger and let out a small sigh.

"Dan made me promise that I'd remind you to…destroy his sperm samples. He said he didn't want to have children with anyone else but me, and…he was afraid if you didn't have them destroyed, the samples might wind up with the general donations to the clinic."

Bill could feel himself relaxing a bit, knowing that he had already taken care of this issue a few years ago.

"Hallie, don't worry. Okay? It's been taken care of. I pulled his paperwork not too long ago and sealed his records so that nobody outside of the two of us can ever access the samples. I even planned to give the whole folder to you for Christmas once…well…it's around here somewhere. Safe and sound. No worries."

"But…you didn't have them destroyed?" The disappointment on her face puzzled her husband.

"Well…no. I guess I just didn't think it was…necessary."

"Why not?"

"Because…I don't know…I just didn't. But, I made sure they were protected. That's all that matters." He closed his big hands over her small ones and gave her a comforting smile. "Let's not worry about it anymore right now. You kept your promise, and Dan would be grateful. All is well."

But, all didn't seem too well with Hallie at the moment. She swiftly pulled herself up and away from Bill with a stiff jerky motion, folding her arms across her chest and turning away so he could not see her face.

"I know it may not seem like a big deal to you, but…it is to me," she started cooly. "It was the only thing he asked me to do for him. I can't let him down, now."

"But you aren't letting him down. You promised him you'd remind me, and you did. Really, Sweetheart, what's the difference? Whether the clinic destroys the samples or not, no one else can access them, and that's all he was worried about, right? So… you kept your promise. See? Done deal. There's no need to go and throw away the only part of him we have left."

He heard a sharp intake of breath come from Hallie as the truth of his words fell on her heart. She turned around to face him with tears in her eyes.

"Is that really why you didn't have them destroyed? You…wanted to…hold on to him a while longer?"

Bill swallowed hard, knowing she was right.

"I guess…yeah. Something like that." He stood up and stepped toward her, but she shrank back.

"No! We can't!" She suddenly blurted out. "It…it wouldn't be right."

"What are you talking about?" Bill was completely confused by her sudden anger and fear.

"You kept them for us to use, didn't you? For us to…to have Dan's baby. Oh Bill, we…we can't!"

"Hallie, I honestly never even considered that." He felt a strange sickness in his stomach at the implication of her words. He wasn't ready to have his own offspring and become a father, much less raise up the children of anyone else. "Calm down. I wasn't thinking about that at the time. Believe me."

"But…you admit…you could be thinking about it now."

"Only because you brought it up! Good grief!"

"I knew I should have talked to you about this sooner," Hallie turned away from him and muttered to herself. She started to gather up her things for the shower once more, snatching items and banging drawers to indicate that she was agitated. "If I had just gone and mentioned the whole thing to you like I promised Dan…back before you did all of this…"

"What?" Bill prodded. "What would have happened? You think I would have destroyed them then? I'm not ready to let them go, now. What makes you think I would have given them up then?"

"This is insane. Completely insane! You know that, don't you?"

"You're the one who's crazy if you think I sealed Dan's file so we could use his samples ourselves. I was trying to protect him!"

"I'm going to get a shower." She suddenly shoved past him and stormed toward the bathroom, accidently dropping a shirt from the pile of items in her hands.

As Bill reached down to assist her, she yanked the clothing up before he could get to it.

"I thought you…had to go…feed the horses…or…something," she muttered angrily.

"And, I thought you missed him, too," Bill scowled back.

She turned and met his hurt glare with one of her own before moving toward the bathroom door again.

"I do. But...keeping the samples won't bring him back. Or stop the pain. It just makes the hurt… last longer."

"Fine!" Bill shouted in defeat. "I'll call up Cryobank tomorrow and make you happy!"

"Fine!" Hallie shouted back.

"Fine!"

Bill struggled to hide the emotion choking him and pricking his eyes as he stomped his way out of the bedroom and down the hallway. Although he was fully aware that his wife would be sobbing in the shower while he pushed on with the daunting list of chores he had to complete that afternoon, he couldn't make himself return to her right away to redress his angry words.

I thought she, of all people, could understand, his mind grumbled.

Little did he know, she was about to gain a whole new perspective with a little help from above.