A/N: thanks for all the kind reviews. They are appreciated.

There isn't a lot of exciting action in these chapters...most of them are family stories, but that's the point of the album...to encourage those memories.

Michael-Vincent wiped down the counter in the tidy kitchen after dinner that evening, listening intently as his wife of over twenty years explained what had happened earlier in the day. Finally he turned to her, his hands on his hips.

"I wonder how we missed that book when we got their stuff packed up to move." He grinned as he leaned over the counter to give Christine a kiss. "I'm glad you went back for one last look at the house."

"Yeah, me, too." Sitting on a bar stool, Christine ran her fingers over the embossed cover of the album. "I can't imagine how it got shoved up there, unless Mom put it up there for safekeeping or something...or maybe the movers put it up there and then forgot about it. Anyway, it doesn't make any difference. We have it now, and that's all that matters."

"You're right." He eyed the old album with interest. "I can't believe your parents still have actual photographs and bits of real newspapers after all these years…and stashed in a old book, no less..."

"Come on...you know my dad...he likes to 'keep it real'." Christine laughed softly. "I can just imagine him sitting in his old recliner, reading through his collection of newspaper clippings and then shoving them back into the album when he was done with them."

"Yeah, I suppose. You know, you should probably get all those images and papers scanned so we can preserve them." Throwing the dish towel over his shoulder, Michael-Vincent tapped the album's cover. "Have you looked through the book yet? I think it's pretty exciting, you know? No telling what might be in there…it's almost like one of your mom's archaeological digs."

"No, I haven't gotten very far into it. I've only looked at the first couple of pages...anyway, I haven't really had time." Hesitating slightly, Christine sipped her wine as she gathered her thoughts. "I talked to Mom when we got home, and she wants us to keep the book here so we can begin the process of archiving the materials inside. She says she doesn't have room for it at her place." Biting her lip slightly, she shrugged as she traced the edge of the cover. "It's weird, you know? I mean, I want to know what's in here, but I'm kind of afraid, too. What if this stuff dredges up all sorts of bad memories? And the kids want to look at it, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't do that by myself first…you know, just in case...to make sure there's nothing too scary in it. Who knows what Mom and Dad decided to save?"

"Listen, Chrissy…" Michael-Vincent smiled as he pushed a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "Everything in that book has already happened, okay? We can't change it by not remembering it or by ignoring it. Your parents and mine have had lots of good times and bad times, and they're still together...still in love...still happy. If they could handle that stuff and get through it...and still be married...I bet we can handle the memories of those things, too. Right?"

Christine giggled as she took his hand in hers. "You're pretty smart, you know that, Mikey?"

"Well, of course I know that. I got you to marry me, right?" He gave her a silly wink. "Hey, I know...See if our marriage announcement is in the album…"

"Hey, Mom…", Seeley interrupted as he came into the kitchen and grabbed an apple. "I'm gonna leave...Beth and I are going to a concert this evening…" He glanced down at the album sitting on the kitchen counter. "I want to look through this book later, okay? It's so cool that we found this."

"Mom! Mom!" Joy, dressed in her nightgown, came racing into the kitchen with Max hot on her heels. "Are you gonna let us look at the book now? Me and Max want a story before we go to bed…maybe you can tell us some more stuff about those things Grammy put in there."

"It's 'Max and I', Joy." Christine glanced at the clock. "I guess we can look at it for a little while. You don't mind if we look at it without you, do you, Seeley?"

"Nah...just make sure you don't tell any stories about me when I'm not here to defend myself. See ya later, Mom…" He gave her a kiss on the cheek and sauntered out the door.

"Okay, let's see what we have here…" Christine thumbed through the heavy pages of the album, speaking to her children as they nestled next to her on the sofa in the family room. "Daddy had a special request. Let me see if I can find it…"

"Who's that man?", Max asked, pointing to an old photograph. "His clothes look funny."

"That's my Grandpa Max...that's who you're named after." Christine wore a wistful grin as she looked at the picture. Her grandfather's clear blue eyes smiled back at her from the page. It was a good likeness of him, and she almost expected to hear him call by the pet name he'd had for her all those years ago. I was his best girl, wasn't I? "I'll tell you about him some other time, Sweetheart. Oh, here it is...this is what I wanted. Right now…" She pointed to another image. "...I want to tell you about this picture. Do you know who this is?"

Joy's brow furrowed as she studied the photograph. "Well...not really…"

Michael-Vincent chuckled as he joined his wife in the family room. "Come on, Chrissy...that was a long time ago…we've changed a lot…you can't expect them to recognize us."

Max looked at his father in surprise. "Daddy...is that really you? Who's that with you?"

"That's Mommy, of course." He laughed as he took the picture from its spot and held it up so his children could look at it more closely. "This is our wedding picture." The photograph showed two much younger people standing on either side of a man dressed as Elvis Presley. "We had this taken right after we got married."

"No way." Joy shook her head in disgust. "You're both wearing shorts and tee shirts. Mom isn't wearing a pretty dress, and she doesn't even have any flowers…that man is wearing a funny suit...and where is everyone else? Grammy and Pops? Grandma A and PaJack? Why aren't they there with you?"

Chuckling as she stroked her daughter's dark hair, Christine explained. "It's a long story, but I suppose you want to hear it, right?" She winked at her husband, who grinned back at her. "You see, your daddy and I grew up together, practically from the time we were born. Pops and Grammy have been good friends with Grandma A and PaJack for many years, so it just seemed natural that the two of us would be close friends. We played together as children, and then we dated each other off and on in high school…"

"Until your mom decided we needed to see other people for a change." Michael-Vincent sighed softly. "I didn't agree, but I didn't have much choice, I suppose…Mommy wanted to spread her wings and fly away from me."

Embarrassed, his wife blushed slightly. "Well, it was a dumb idea, I guess, but I wanted to be sure I wasn't missing anything out in the real world." Christine patted her husband's hand. "I should've known I'd never find anyone better than you."

Glancing at her impatient children, she cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway, when I was in college I dated a boy named Kyle, and your daddy dated a girl named Liz while he was in college, but neither one of us was really very happy. We both graduated and got jobs, and we kept in touch, but we didn't actually see each other for a couple of years."

"That's right. I had moved to the San Francisco area to do graduate work in ergonomics and industrial design at UC Berkeley. It was fun, and I liked my classes, but I still missed my Chrissy."

"And I was working on my master's degree in genetic counseling at Johns Hopkins in Maryland, and living at home." Christine smirked at her husband. "I think Grammy and Pops got tired of me moping around the house, because they offered to send me to California for a two week vacation one summer while your daddy was living there. I was excited, but also a little bit worried. I thought maybe your daddy had a new girlfriend, since he'd mentioned someone named Diana from time to time…"

"...but I didn't. I couldn't wait to see your mom, but I was afraid that she had a boyfriend…some guy named Louis..."

"But you were both wrong!", Max exclaimed.

"That's right. Your daddy came to pick me up at the airport, and we were so glad to see each other. It was like we'd never been apart." Christine tousled her son's hair. "We had so much fun seeing all the sights in San Francisco. After a few days we went to Los Angeles to look around, and then Daddy suggested that we drive over to Las Vegas."

"It's only a couple of hours from LA, so why not?" Michael-Vincent twitched his eyebrow at his wife. "Mommy didn't know I had a plan cooked up…I was gonna try to get her to stay in California with me, no matter what it took. I didn't want her to leave me ever again."

"And Daddy didn't know I had a plan, too. I wanted him to come back home to DC, and I was willing to do almost anything to make that happen. So there we were, walking down the main street of Los Vegas one sunny afternoon, looking at all the casinos and everything, and we came across this 24 hour wedding chapel. There wasn't anyone having a wedding in there at the time, so I looked at your daddy and said, 'I dare you to marry me right now!'"

"And I said, 'Oh, yeah? You're on!' So before Mommy could back out, I pulled her into the chapel and we got married in our shorts, sandals, and Las Vegas tee shirts, and the minister who performed the ceremony was dressed like an Elvis impersonator."

"Who's Elvis?" Max was obviously confused. "Was he a friend of yours?"

"No, silly. He was a famous musician a long time ago." Christine made a mental note to expose her children to more popular culture before continuing. "We were so happy for a few minutes, but then it occurred to us that we'd have to tell our parents that we'd gotten married in Las Vegas on the spur of the moment, and they weren't there to see it...they didn't get to celebrate with us."

Michael-Vincent made a face like he was choking as he pretended to grab his throat. "I thought Pops might not be too happy with me, you know? It was a legal marriage, but it wasn't a church wedding...and I thought Grandma A might be disappointed that she didn't get to plan anything special for us."

Christine smiled as she gently ran her fingers over the photograph. "But later that day, when we called Pops, Grammy, Grandma A, and PaJack back home in DC to tell them that we had gotten married, we found out the joke was on us! They had figured if I went to California to see your daddy again, we'd realize that we still loved each other, and we'd decide to get married, and they wouldn't have to worry about planning a wedding! And that's exactly what happened. Daddy was able to continue his degree at American University, so we moved back here soon afterwards, and we've been happy ever since then."

Joy laughed merrily as she looked at the picture once again. "I think that's a funny story."

"Yep, we got married over 20 years ago, and we've been happy together ever since." Michael-Vincent sat back in his chair and winked at his wife. "Best dare I ever took."

Giving her children a squeeze, Christine smiled broadly. "Okay, Munchkins, that's enough of a story for now. We can look at the album some more tomorrow. Go brush your teeth and hop into bed. I'll be in shortly to say good night."

Michael-Vincent laughed as he watched Max race Joy to the bathroom. Extending his hand to his wife, he pulled her down onto his lap. "So do you think we should tell them that unusual weddings run in the family? I mean, my parents got married in a jail cell...yours got married in a garden after the church burned down...Parker got married in London to a girl he met while he was living in England, and Hank married one of your best friends in a Lakota Sioux ceremony...my brother and his wife got married on horseback at a dude ranch in Montana..."

Christine snuggled against her husband, giggling softly. "No...it'll probably be a long time before any of them get married, so I'm not worried about it, although it'll be interesting to see if they can top our wedding, won't it?" She reached up to give him a kiss. "Anyway, no matter who they marry, or how it happens, I just hope they're as happy as we've been, Mikey."

"Very true, Chrissy. Very true."