If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.
-A. A. Milne-

"I like….seeing you happy." Erin said as the car carried them away from the pharmacy. He truly seemed happy now, even with a 5 O'clock shadow and a few more wrinkles around his eyes.

"You make me happy." He pulled her back to him so her head was against his chest. Brushing a kiss to her forehead, his eyes met with the driver's through the rearview mirror.

"Home, then?"

Dave nodded once, "Home, Thomas. "

Thomas nodded in solidarity, "I too, like to see you happy Dave. I'll put in another order." All the years the two men had spent together in quiet comradery were finally paying off. Thomas took care of Dave's house while he was away on extended cases and Dave would pretend not to notice the business cards belonging to successful single women left in strategic places inside the house.

At the sounds of his Master's footsteps at the door, Mudgie got up from his bed in the corner of Dave's room and bolted down the stairs. The sound of his nails on the hardwood entry hall echoed through the house. As he practiced his welcome home dance.

'right turn'

"Dammit." Dave muttered in disdain, "stay back, Erin."

As usual she plowed right in.

'Left turn'

The door opened as Dave disarmed the alarm system.

And…'jump'

"Mudgie, FREEZE!" Dave bellowed as the 80LB pooch bounded towards Erin, he jumped trying to greet his master. His paws caught air. His master's command fell on deaf ears as a rush of adrenaline took over. Dave took one step in front of Erin and grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck just before a pair of claws could connect with her.

"Dog I said FREEZE!" He growled and took the dog by the collar.

"Calm down, Dave." Erin tried to soothe him.

"I'm putting him on his chain, I'll be right back."

"Just let him go out the doggie door."

"He's way too hyper," Dave bit out and dragged the dog closer to the door. Poor Mudgie whimpered in apology, his baleful eyes begging for forgiveness.

"He knows where he's going," Erin argued. Good God if this was how they were going to parent their children, they had some work to do.

"He's gonna hurt someone," Dave fired back.

"Before or after you hurt him?" Erin took a step closer and touched Dave's shoulder. "You don't want to hurt him. He loves you."

"Fine," reluctantly he released his grip on the collar. Mudgie trotted to the doggie door and cast one last look at Erin before the doggie door swung closed.

"I'm…" Dave paused awkwardly, "sorry I lost my temper," he said softly and led them into the den. A plush leather sofa curved around two walls and bookshelves lined the other. "You know, that dog's crazy about you."

"It was no big deal and for the record, I like him too. "

Her jaw dropped at the sight of the book, the number of bookmarks that stuck out of the pages.

Dave chuckled, "You like what you see?"

"You've been busy." She complimented as she surveyed his book shelves, varies copies of What to Expect when you're Expecting bulged from the shelves. Among mystery novels and nonfiction crime. Each one was marked in multiple places with different colored ribbons.

"We should know the sex by now." He said, his arm wrapped around her waist.

"I should be shopping, too." Her teeth sank into her bottom lip worriedly.

"We can do that," he reassured. "You need stuff, too."

"With the change of season, I'm sure there's a sale going on somewhere."

"Please." He snorted, "sale prices are the least of your worries."

"Ow!" She winced slightly and leaned into him.

"What is it?" His arm tightened around her instinctively.

Her hand came up against her rib cage, "it feels like they're adding a

new addition."

"Prime real estate." He covered her hand with his and loosened his hold on her. "Stop scaring the crap out of your mother," he scolded gently and pulled a book from the shelf. His other hand moved up and down her stomach in long smooth strokes. Erin leaned her head into his shoulder and stretched until her eyes met his. "You look tired."

"Rehab is exhausting. Come lay down with me." He didn't want to sleep but he couldn't stop the fatigue that sank into him.

He moved further into the living room and sat the book down on the coffee table, flipping the pages, he paused and waited until she was next to him and sat down. His hand settled on the small of her back, the gentle curve of her body seemed to fit just right against his.

She toed off her shoes and curled her legs up on the couch.

"What are we reading?" She asked and reached for the book. "I refuse to read about Round Ligament Pain in Second Trimester for Dummies unless you do voices."

Dave barked a laugh, "How about Baby Names, A Through Z." He flipped the page. "Abigail?" He offered.

Erin laughed, the sound seemed to bounce off the walls and Dave could feel the vibrations of her voice against his chest, "absolutely not."

"Well I can't call them The Doublemint Twins, forever." He argued.

"That's what you call them!" She laughed harder.

"He raised an eyebrow, "It's not that funny, Erin."

"Yes it is!"

"Well, what do you call them?" He challenged.

She thought for a second, "I don't call them anything."

Was it wrong that she didn't give their babies a cute nickname? Suddenly she felt very subconscious, something akin to shame rolled over her.

"I didn't realize you gave them a nickname."

Dave flipped the page again, "so let's come up with one and stick to it until we decide on actual names."

"We have plenty of time," Erin argued and reached for the tablet on the coffee table.

"Want to shop instead?" Dave asked and handed her the tablet.

"Let's just look," she said and logged into Amazon.

"Sure, just one thing," he plucked the tablet out of her grip.

"Hey!"

She grabbed for the tablet but he pulled it out of her reach.

"Now, hold up. It's not a crime for me to use my own tablet," he said and continued to type. He removed her credit card number, the one he knew she paid for faithfully, in full with no questions asked; and replaced it with his Platinum Visa number. Saving the information, he. added a pregnancy pillow to their virtual shopping cart and passed the device back to her.

"Now, you may shop until your heart's content."

"What did you do?" She asked, suspiciously.

"Oh." He shrugged, "just deleted my porn stash."

"Yeah right, you prefer the real thing and we both know it." She clicked on the empty cart, her eyes dilated in surprise. "An $80 pillow, are you out of your mind?"

That was dinner in her world. Mark didn't spend that much on groceries for the week when she was pregnant with Paige; by the time she was born the baby had everything she could ever want or need; but Erin spent her entire pregnancy in the FBI compound. An achy back or swollen ankles just weren't a priority.

"What?" He shrugged in nonchalance. "Suddenly it's a crime to buy you something to make you comfortable?"

"Dave-"

"Look." He shut the book and waited until he had her full attention. "Let me do this, okay? I need to do this."

"Do what?"

He took a suddenly shaky breath, he didn't know if it was the exhaustion that finally settled into his bones or just the fact that she was finally ready to hear it, but Dave felt his guard lower and for the first time in many years; he wanted to talk about James.

"I didn't get to do it right the first time, look what that cost me."

"David, you can't-"

"Please," He held up one hand. "Just listen."

"Alright."

"I was gone so much while Carolyn was pregnant, I didn't go to the appointments, I didn't realize what I was missing until I called home."

He paused, reaching far back in time. He waited for the right words to explain things, but he realized there were no words to describe that day.

Dave navigated the car between the gas pumps and hurried towards the pay phone. He barely heard Jason Gideon call out, "Hey way to shut your door."

They were in New York and he needed to get home to Virginia. He didn't know why or what was wrong; but he knew deep down, trouble was ahead.

He groped in his pockets for change, an ominous feeling had settled in his gut; he had to get home and get there fast.

He dropped the coins into the phone and dialed his home number with a trembling hand, "It's me!" he nearly shouted, "Kay, don't hang up; it's David!"

"Get here, quick! Carolyn's in the hospital, Mom and Dad had to take her this morning." Dave didn't miss the panic in his sister-in law's voice. His hands began to shake as his gut clenched and unclenched, part in fear, for his wife and child and part in relief that his instincts weren't failing him. "What's happening?" He asked.

"The doctors are trying to stop the labour," Kay said, "but they said James was in a hurry."

"Will they be okay?" Panic gripped him he held the phone in a white knuckled grasp. "How soon is too soon?"

"I don't know, Dave it's all very confusing, the doctor said they could help them but you have to get here quickly."

Dave's voice turned ragged, "by the time I got to the hospital, Carolyn had already made the decision to take him off the life support. I didn't know the difference in the third trimester and the first; I didn't realize that James' lungs could have been medicated." Dave's voice dropped low as he allowed his memories to carry him away. "He might have lived. If I had fought for him; if I had done my job. But I didn't know and I let my wife kill our baby." His shoulders dropped as the weight of his past lowered down on him.

Erin didn't know what to say, there were no words that could balm his wounds. So she took his hand in hers and waited for him to come back to her. "He's at peace now. You need to want it for yourself."

"I do, mostly," he admitted. "I've had a lot of time to think about it. I just feel like I have to be prepared this time, can you let me do that?"

"We're going to be alright," her casted hand curled around his fingers, her other hand came around the back of his head to play with his hair. The lush locks slipped through her fingers and he leaned into her touch. "If it helps you, you can be wherever you want to be."

A far off memory struck him, "you did that in the hospital."

"What?" She ran her hand through his hair slowly teasing his scalp with her nails. "This."

Dave nodded as his chin began to sink into his chest. "You put me to sleep," he mumbled, suddenly groggy. "I don't wanna sleep yet."

He looked peaceful now, his face showed no sign of past heartache. Instinctively, Erin pulled him forward until his head laid against her chest. His arm dropped around her "that's too bad, " she whispered softly and pressed her lips against his forehead and together they fell asleep.

Hours Later

Erin awoke to the sound of laughter, it bubbled through the house and compelled her to open her eyes. Slowly moving to her feet, with nothing but the empty room and a blanket. Where was David? She leaned against the doorway of the kitchen, with one arm propped against the wall and the other hand on her hip. The glorious smell of chicken broth filled the air.

Dave was standing in the kitchen with a bowl in one hand and a ladle hovering over a soup pot. "I thought you were sleeping,"she said softly ;he was the one recovering from a heart attack. If she had a drop of his energy she would never have to sleep again.

"I woke up," he shrugged and filled the bowl. "Are you hungry? I'm having dinner in the living room."

"Why not in here?" She asked and pushed away from the wall.

"I didn't want to wake you, so I started watching a movie."

Erin followed him into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl. "Did you cook?"

"Yeah." He reached over her head and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. "What do you want to drink?" Erin caught a glimpse of the inside of the refrigerator; did he take out stocks in Canada Dry Ginger Ale? She thought to herself. Another quick look at the kitchen confirmed what she already knew. There was a bag on the counter that hadn't been there when they came in. The corner of a J.C. Penny catalog peeked out at her.

"Dave? What's going on?"

He turned around with her glass in hand. "I had some stuff delivered."

"What stuff?" Her vision blurred suddenly and she gripped the counter for balance.

"Just some stuff, I thought you might like your own soap."

"Soap?" She repeated, her knees felt like limp noodles.

What the hell was wrong with her?

"Just soap." He sat the glass on the counter and guided her into a chair. "Jesus, Erin. I'm not trying to move you in, yet. I thought you would like to shower with something better than Irish Spring."

She chuckled dryly, "I thought it was a good soap."

"Sure it is, for a man," he countered and took the bowl from the island and slid it on the table in front of her. "Eat, before you pass out."

"I stood up too fast." She accepted the spoon he held out for her.

He nodded in acceptance, "it's eat or shop, you choose."

"Can we do both?"

He grinned slyly, "very diplomatic, I like it. "

"That's what they pay me for. " She inhaled deeply; rich scents of herbs and chicken broth teased her senses. "Can you make this by the gallon?" She asked as she savored the meal.

"It keeps really well in the freezer." He stood up and got the catalog off the counter. "I thought we could start designing the nursery. I've spent the last two weeks stuck down here and after that I don't know if a two story house is the best idea."

"Come on, Dave please let's not talk about this now. "

She could tell by his face that her tone dulled his excitement.

She didn't want to move, she fought Mark tooth and nail to keep their house during the divorce; she painted the walls, refurbished the cabinets in the kitchen and tiled the bathroom after Mark moved out. She couldn't just give it up. Not to move into a ready-made house that looked like something out of Man-Cave monthly. A house that would never be her home, no matter how much time she spent under its roof.

"Your house is too small for all of us, Erin." Dave begged, "please just consider it?"

"But it's my house. "

"So what's this? " Arms spread wide, the house that he'd worked his whole life for, from the foundation to the artwork that hung on the walls, it was all him but it wasn't enough for her. "Just a place to change your clothes?"

She shook her head, he didn't get it and at this rate he probably never would. "It's not mine. I put so much work into my house, I can't just move out."

"I get that, Erin; I do. I know you don't want to relocate the kids. But just think about how great it could be. You wouldn't have to make trips back and forth, you wouldn't have to worry about leaky pipes or a flood insurance. This house has live-in maintenance. Please, Sweetheart, just think about it. "

"The kids love their school,"Erin countered. "McKenzie has a friend now, I can't just rip them away because you decided this is best."

"And you're right, I don't want them to be hurt, but it hurts them when they come home from Mark's and you're here instead."

Dammit. He always found the low blow. "I'm sorry!" She pushed to her feet, and crossed her arms. "Don't call me a bad parent because I'm not ready to share a house with you when I just got my freedom back!"

A long stretch of silence fell over them.

He pushed away from the table, brushing past her to take his bowl and spoon to the sink.

"I didn't-" he scrambled for the right words. That was one hot button that he would never intentionally press. "You're a fantastic mother, Erin and you know I mean that. "

He stepped closer to her his hand found her delicate cheek without his consent. "I think everything you do is fantastic, starting with those kids." His fingertips caressed her cheek and she met his gaze. "We don't have to agree, Sweetheart. But there's nothing in this universe that you can't do. You're too damn good at your job, a glorious lover and sexier than sin. This can be your home too if you want it. Now come here and let me show you how amazing you are. " He grabbed her hand and led them into the living room, stopping in front of the full length mirror on the wall.

"Open your eyes, My Love. "

"They are open."

She watched through the mirror as Julia Roberts and Richard Gere made love on the piano.

"Good. " He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "I want your full attention."

"I'm not going anywhere. "

His hands ran down her back sending warmth through her body.

"Now I want you to see you as I see you." He moved over to the closet and pulled out a T-shirt and a house-coat.

He wanted her against him, skin on skin. Never again did he want to walk into a room and hear her criticizing her body the way she did today at the doctor's office. Not when she was giving him one of the greatest gifts a man could ask for.

He moved behind her again and pushed her jacket from her shoulders. He threw it over the sofa against the wall.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you trust me?"

"With my life. "

This " His fingers played with the hem of her tank top. He pulled it over her head in one swift movement. His palms curved around her breasts. "is in my way."

Her breath hitched as he touched the bare skin of her rib cage. His fingers played against the band of her bra. With one hand he snapped the clasp open and she watched her bra fall to the floor. Her reflection played out in front of them, she had never seen Dave so content.

"These," his hands curled around her breasts. "Will feed our children."

"This, " He mumbled against her ear and moved his hands lower she jumped in surprise as he grabbed her waistband. "Step out. " He demanded and pushed her pants down her hips. "This. " He grabbed her slightly rounded hips. "Will bring our children into the world." His movements slowed and she thought her heart would burst with affection for him.

Her breath stalled as she watched him touch her.

There she stood, wearing nothing but her panties and Dave's arms around her. For the first time in too long, she felt beautiful.

Warm flesh on hers stopped any verbal response she might have had as his palm found the cusp of her belly. "This is where our children grow, safe and healthy, because of you. Just you, Erin. "

His hands moved lower and he took her rear in a possessive grasp.

"That part of my body does absolutely nothing," she yelped in surprise. Her cheeks and neck were stained red with embarrassment.

"It makes me happy. "

She leaned her cheek against his chest. "Just so you know, the kitchen curtains are ugly, you need more natural light and the mattress in the master suite needs to be replaced. "

He grinned and felt some of the tension roll off his shoulders. Slowly he turned to face her. "Why the mattress?"

"Because I'm not sleeping in a pool of bodily fluids." She replied shaking her head.

"I'm glad you're finally seeing things my way." He loved this, he realized and pulled the T-shirt over her head.