A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed - if you're anonymous, I can't PM you, so just accept a big internet hug and pretty please keep it up. Let's be real here: I have an inordinate amount of time to write and post right now and I want to continue on warp speed, but encouragement is the fuel I need to make my fingers fly. So. Asking for patience as I get us set up here for what's to come. Back to the story, where we last saw Our Heroes in a boat approaching the island together...


.-.-.

Some Bright Morning
4. when the gates open wide

.-.-.

It's different.

That's Derek's first thought, as the boat gently taps the wooden supports and Beau hops out with practiced ease to get her docked. The island is ... different.

Different from what he expected – though he's not really sure what he expected – and different from any place he's seen before. Their final approach appears to lead them into dense, lush … nature, for lack of a better word, the rich estuary waters pushing them toward a narrow wooden dock surrounded by gently waving plants.

He has equal sensations of smallness and vastness all at once: golden reeds marching along the shore, sand and low-hanging leaves lining the paths. Vegetation is everywhere, climbing the rough-hewn logs making up the only outbuilding structures he can see and hugging the banks. The air smells fresh, like green things growing. It's luxuriously quiet except for the lapping sounds of water and the contented calls of birds and insects.

When Derek pictured Addison on the island, it was more of a resort. This ... nature retreat, this secluded place of beauty, doesn't seem like her style. Strange.

Beau helps Addison out of the boat first, setting her gently on the dock, and Derek watches as she throws her arms around Savvy.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he can hear her murmuring and he tries not to think about the last time he heard Addison apologize.

Derek doesn't object to Beau's proffered hand this time.

Addison releases Savvy when Derek makes landfall on the dock and he's next to hug her. "I'm so sorry, Sav."

"How are you holding up?" Addison rests a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know it must be..."

"...tough. It's tough." Savvy sighs. "It was so fast, and I wasn't ... but then you're never ready, are you?"

Derek shakes his head in agreement.

Savvy looks from one of them to the other. "It means a lot that you're here. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank us," Addison says quickly. Derek stifles his automatic response: Don't say us. There is no us.

There was an us – there was DerekAndAddison, for a third of their lives, but she drove a stake through that and she shouldn't get to say us.

But he promised he'd play the role, and Savvy's eyes are bloodshot and her cheeks flushed; she's grieving, the least he can do is not make it about them, so…

"We want to be here," Derek assures Savvy, "of course you don't have to thank us," and he's glad she can't read his face enough to see what's underneath his sympathetic half-smile. Savvy squeezes one of each of their hands in response.

"I'm staying over in the old cottages with Bos and the others, but you'll be in Reeds."

Addison nods.

"Reeds?" Derek's eye is drawn to the omnipresent golden and green reeds along the shore. He did say he'd like to see Addison roughing it, but…

"Reeds," Savvy says, "is a little Beaufort project that keeps the conservation team going. It's small but it's comfortable, and – oh, there he is, I told him you were coming in," and she turns, stretching out an arm to the familiar figure walking toward the dock.

Weiss is dressed casually and for the heat in shorts and a lightweight shirt, sunglasses protecting his eyes. He pushes them up when he gets to Savvy and studies her face briefly before pulling her into his arms.

"Weiss, you saw me five minutes ago," she protests, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "Don't you want to say hello to Addison and Derek?"

"Sure," he says amiably, "but I can't help it I only have eyes for you."

Savvy rolls her eyes but looks a little pleased.

Weiss is embracing Addison now. "Thanks so much for coming, Addie."

He clasps Derek's hand and pulls him in for the time-honored manly one-armed hug. "Trip go okay?" he asks quietly, for Derek's benefit only, it seems, but they break apart before he can answer.

Weiss gestures toward the luggage sitting on the dock. "You need a hand?"

"No, I've got it." Derek heads for the bags Beau left lying on the dock – and can't help noticing Beau took Addison's bags with him and set them neatly on the sagging wooden bench closest to the sandy path. Beau lifts a hand in acknowledgement as they approach; he's sitting in the boat again now doing ... something.

"I hope Beau's not staying at Reeds," Derek can't help muttering to Addison, who is following him for some reason as he drags his luggage down the dock.

"You don't like Beau either? First Captain Eaves, now Beau? Maybe you just don't like anyone with good manners."

"Good manners! He was all over you." He looks at her dismissively. "Maybe he heard you were … on the market."

"Derek," she grits, "we're on the island now, and you said-."

"But no one can hear us."

"I can hear you, actually," Beau says pleasantly, standing closer than Derek realized. "but don't worry about it. So … I'll just tie her up and then I'll be going…"

"Thank you so much for bringing them." Savvy tucks her arm through his.

"Oh, the pleasure was mine. It was a real experience," he says, and Derek clenches the hand in his pocket.

A child's voice cuts through the quiet nature sounds before he can respond.

"Daddy, I wanted to come with you!"

Derek turns to see a group of towheaded children running through the reeds onto the dock, followed a few paces behind by a woman he presumes is their mother.

"Aw, I would've loved to have you, Tuck, but that would have been a real tight squeeze with both our friends here." Beau smiles at the little boy, still squatting to finishing docking his boat, as more children flock around him, each blonder than the next. "You can help me get her all set, though, bud. Come over here and give me a hand."

"All these are yours?" Derek asks doubtfully when Beau has stood up.

"Lily helped a little," he acknowledges, and a slender, barefoot blonde woman in a long sundress reaches out to swat him in response; he grabs her hand before she can do it again and pulls her in for a kiss.

"Yuck," one of the little boys says, and Beau cuffs him lightly on the back of the head, laughing.

"Lil," Savvy smiles, "you've met Addie and Derek but it's been a long time." She makes the introductions.

"You're Beau's wife," Derek acknowledges.

"Fifteen years now," Lily smiles.

Beau nods in agreement. "That one's Beau Junior, the one over there is Christopher …

"How do you do," he says politely.

"…the only one with manners, apparently, Isaac … Tucker, the one holding the ropes… and down here we have Miss Avery."

He points to a tiny blonde girl with a head of curly hair.

Addison is smiling at the tiny child. "Hi there."

"Hi! Did y'all bring me a present?" she asks sweetly.

"Ignore her." Beau rolls his eyes, scooping the child up and turning her upside down, producing much shrieking glee. "She's spoiled just this side of rotten because someone insisted we keep trying 'til we got our baby girl."

Based on the way Beau is now covering her small face with kisses, it's not hard to see that.

"I don't remember you complaining when we were trying, Beau," Lily says, laughing as she corrals the two smallest boys.

"Five children and a figure like that. It's totally unfair." Savvy shakes her head.

"Who's complaining about your figure? It certainly wasn't me." Weiss wraps an arm around her. "I have no complaints. None."

Beau glances around. "Where are the others?"

"Daddy's in the patch," Savvy says. "Bos is out fishing with Tom and Wils, Augie and Millie are doing some of the preparations over at the boil – Morgan too – and … "

The unfamiliar names wash over Derek without taking up much residence in his brain. There's too much in his brain already, coated the thick, sweet scent of the island – as unfamiliar as the rich flora surrounding him.

Savvy looks exhausted, he notes, she's leaning against Weiss, who's playing absently with a strand of her hair while he supports her. Weiss glances over at Derek with an expression he can't quite read.

"You must be exhausted from your trip," Savvy murmurs, glancing at Addison.

"We're fine, Sav." Addison touches her arm. "It's you we're worried about."

Beau and Savvy exchange a glance. "Let's get your friends settled," Beau suggests. He glances at Derek. "Reeds is down that path, along the curve, fronting the river."

"Isn't this…"

"This is another river." Beau smiles. "That's how we get all this fine wildlife that we're duty-bound to protect. Speaking of which … I think it's time to get out there for some fishing. Boys – who's in?"

They respond enthusiastically.

He turns to address his oldest. "You want to fish?"

"Yes, sir," he says quickly.

"Then go and run Miss Addie's bags over to Reeds – riverfront side, and be sure to leave 'em in the shade."

The teenager nods and hefts the bags onto his bag.

"Chris, you help him," Beau instructs. "And then both of y'all come meet us at Thompson dock so we can catch some dinner. Tuck and Isaac, come on with me," he holds out his hand to beckon the two smaller boys.

"We're coming with you too," Lily smiles. "Avery wants to wave while you're steering out. We'll see y'all later?" She glances from Addison to Derek.

Beau leans over and kisses Savvy on the cheek. "I'll see you in a little bit, sugar. Take good care of her," he says to Weiss, who nods as Beau claps him on the back.

Beau turns, a small blond boy hanging on to one of each of his hands now, and focuses his gaze on Addison.

"You need anything, you let me know," he says, his tone firm. "You remember that."

Derek can't tell if it's a command: you better remember that, or a reminder: you probably remember that. Then he decides he's looking too much into it.

"Derek."

He glances at Beau upon hearing his name.

"Watch out for rattlesnakes," he says simply. "Okay, we're clearing out!"

Derek watches them disappear down the path; Savvy leans in close to whisper something to Addison, who smiles and then whispers something back; most of Addison's updo came apart on the boat, and with their heads close together long strands of her red hair are mingling with equally long strands of Savvy's blonde hair, tossed gently in the breeze rolling off the water.

"Those two and their secrets," Weiss looks at him and for a moment it's like no time has passed at all, they're out to dinner at the bistro exactly halfway between their homes and Savvy and Addison are leaning away from the table to whisper like schoolgirls. Be nice or I'm going to sit in between you, Weiss warned them teasingly and Savvy just grinned at him, nothing can come between us, we had each other before we had the two of you.

Then reality crashes into him and he remembers that they're not DerekAndAddison meeting up with SavvyAndWeiss. He's just Derek now, who wants nothing more than to get away from just Addison after the tense journey from Charlotte.

"I'll take you over to Reeds," Savvy is saying now. "Get you settled in, and then I'm going to find my cousins for-"

"You don't have to host us, Sav," Addison interrupts gently. "You have so much to do. We'll make our way in."

"Yeah? You remember how to –"

"I remember."

"If you're sure." Savvy glances at Weiss. "Honey, can you run after Beau and find out which dock they're fishing off?"

"I thought he said Thompson."

"But can you double check?" Savvy leans up to kiss him on the cheek. After Weiss has started off down the sandy path, she produces an old-fashioned metal key on a worn-looking leather strap and hands it to Addison. There's a brass pendant dangling from it with an inscription, but Derek can't see the words. He can't help noticing it's just one key.

Savvy glances at him. "We're tight for space – more people than room, but if it's a problem I can try to reshuffle or –"

"Of course it's not a problem," Addison interrupts. "And we don't want to make any more work for you … right, Derek?"

"Right," he says quickly. "It's fine, Savvy, don't worry."

"Okay. That's a relief." Savvy gives them a shaky smile.

"Red Fox," Addison reads from the key tag. "I can't remember which one that is."

"It's a nice one," Savvy promises. "Perfect for Red and her fox," she adds, and Derek finds himself wincing slightly, forcing himself not to show his discomfort.

"You sure you two will be okay if I don't walk you in?"

"Of course, Sav, we know how much you have going on right now." Addison hugs her. "You tell us if you need us, okay? I guess you can even text us now that …"

"… the cell tower." Savvy rolls her eyes. "I know. It was a huge concession but it did so much for the conservation team … well, I'll explain it all later. It even works most of the time, except in bad weather."

They all glance around; the weather today is nothing short of glorious.

They exchange hugs again - Derek notices Savvy's gaze lingering on his left hand as they break their embrace - and then she meets Weiss at the end of the dock and they start off on the sandy path together, their arms around each other.

Bird calls are the only sound interrupting the awkward silence that remains on the dock. Addison is shifting her weight from one atypically flat sandal to the other. "So, you want to, um…"

"Fine," he says shortly. "You know how to get there?"

She nods.

Derek glances at her. "You've stayed at this place before?"

"No. Well, yeah … sort of."

He shakes his head slightly. Nothing can be simple with her.

"Let's just go put our bags…" he looks at her, remembering her bags are already wherever they're staying, and her hands are empty.

"Want me to take one of yours?"

She's smiling a little, looking almost mischievous – an expression that might have been endearing if not for the nausea that tugs at him when he sees her face.

Ignoring her question, he sets off down the sandy path she pointed to earlier. He doesn't both to look to see if she's following him, but he hears the familiar cadence of her footfalls behind him as he makes his way toward their … room.

Singular.

Great.

.-.-.

"I should go see if Cammie got here yet."

"Sit a bit longer first." Weiss tugs gently on her hand and she folds back into the wooden porch swing, settling on the faded flower-patterned cushion.

"There's so much to do."

"I know," he says soothingly, "but you need to rest, too. And anyway … Cammie did get here, about an hour ago."

"She did? How did you –"

Weiss nods. "I've been keeping track on my spreadsheet."

"Very funny."

"No, Sav, I'm serious – look," and he reaches into the pocket of his khaki shorts and pulls out an actual spreadsheet.

He nudges her with his shoulder. "Are you laughing or crying?"

"Both," she admits, leaning into him. "Weiss … I couldn't do this without you."

"You'll never have to. Remember the rings?"

He holds his left hand up, his wedding band glinting in the sunlight, and she smiles through her tears.

"It's a lot, babe." He sighs, rubbing her bare arm. "I know it's good to see everyone too, but … it's a lot. You can take a break whenever you need. You got it? That's what I'm here for."

"I know … thank you," she says softly.

"I thought love meant never having to say thank you."

"I think the actual quote is love means never having to say you're sorry and it's kind of terrible advice."

"Ooh … you're right about that."

Savvy leans against her husband in the swing, tucking her legs up underneath her. Weiss lightly pushes off from the weathered boards of the porch, keeping them moving. She's flush with too many feelings to separate right now: love, gratitude, for Weiss but also for her family, knowing the pain of saying goodbye is proportionate to the joy of having had her mother in her life at all. All wrapped up in the numb exhaustion of the past few weeks - and the fear tugging at the corners of her mind.

"Honey …" she says tentatively.

"Yeah," he's smoothing her hair. It's so rare to be alone with Beauforts everywhere on the island right now, and she wants to take advantage of the moment. "I asked my secretary to call me, when she gets them."

"Okay," he says gently.

"Tuesday. It should be Tuesday."

"Okay."

"I need to take the call, Weiss. When it comes."

"I know, babe. I understand."

She feels her breathing start to speed up and he pulls her closer, soothing her with the strength of his body against hers.

"Let's not talk about this now, hm?"

"Are you upset with me?" Her voice shakes a little, leftover emotions, the fear of the last few weeks.

"Of course not, Sav, it's just … you just already have a lot to think about."

"Yeah." She leans against him again. "Weiss … Addison and Derek came."

"You knew they would."

"Yeah, but they came together." She pulls back a little to see her husband's face. "That's a good sign, right?"

"I guess so."

"Derek didn't look too happy, though."

"Well, they did come here for a funeral," he can't seem to help joking and she gives him a gentle shove; she, in turn, can't help smiling a little. It was Weiss's sense of humor above all – a little black, a little blue, much like those of her brother and cousins – that she thinks ended up endearing him to her family.

"Sorry." He gives her a squeeze. "I don't know, Sav."

She sighs, picturing Derek's face, the set of Addison's shoulders. Which just makes her think of the last time …

"If Derek knew," she starts, her voice trailing off before she can finish.

"Honey … it's not our place."

"They're some of our best friends."

"I know."

"And they're going through something terrible."

"You're worrying about them when they came out here just to worry about you," he shakes his head; she feels the movement against her hair. "You're something else, Sav."

"I'm choosing to take that as a compliment."

"Good." He rubs her bare arm. "I love when your choices don't leave me in the dog house. It's so rare."

"It's just … they're both here," she says softly. "Derek's on the island, Weiss. I just … have a feeling."

He doesn't say anything.

"They're talking, at least," she says, then realizes she's not sure she saw them exchange any words on the dock. "Or they'll have to talk to each other at Reeds, anyway," she muses.

"You put them in one room, didn't you."

"I had to, honey, you know the place only sleeps twenty."

"Mm-hm. Which room did you give them, anyway? Marsh Rabbit? Muskrat? "

She doesn't answer.

"Sav…"

"Red Fox," she admits finally, "and that's because the Cobbs wanted Muskrat and Uncle Hank-"

"Savannah," he says with mock severity, "there are other rooms at Reeds besides Muskrat with two beds."

She doesn't answer.

He pauses, maybe trying to remember the rooms. "Wait, which one is Red Fox? Is it the room with the-"

"Maybe."

For a moment she thinks he'll actually be annoyed with her but she can feel the slight movement of his torso that suggests he's laughing a little.

"Sav, if Derek and Addison are going to work it out, they need to work it out themselves," he says after a few moments, gently. "On their own, not because they fall for one of the patented Beaufort Parent Trap tricks." He pauses. "What's the name of that gang of yours again?"

She smiles a little bit at this. "The Four Beausketeers," she admits, feeling him laughing against her. "And you know it. We don't do those things anymore now that we're grown up." He could protest, but he doesn't, so she continues. "Anyway, you have to make your own fun on the island, you know that too."

"Oh, I do. We've made a lot of … fun on the island ourselves."

"True."

"Does making me run naked along the beach while your cousins laugh at me count as fun?"

"That's family tradition, honey!"

"Yes, but you guys were toddlers when you did it. I was … not."

"Well, you joined the family a little later."

"Yeah, I did." He pulls her against him again, stroking her hair. "It was worth a little humiliation to get your father to agree to let me propose."

"That's sweet." She rests her head against his chest.

"Honey … Beau threw those pictures out, right? He said he was going to keep them until our tenth anniversary."

"Um …" Savvy toys with the strap of her husband's watch. He traps her fingers and folds them into his. "Hey, look over there! Some of the guys are fishing. You could join them."

He just leans back against the swing, taking her with him and pushing them off again. "I'm going to find those pictures someday."

"If you do, I want copies." She smiles into the fabric of his shirt. "Mm, young Weiss…"

"I would stop right there if I were you," he warns teasingly, fingers brushing along her ribs and making her laugh.

Then she rests her head against him again, pensive.

"It's okay to laugh," he says gently. "You know, laughter is …"

"…better than liquor," she finishes for him. "Honey, sometimes you sound like a real Beaufort."

"I'm flattered."

They rock in silence for a while. She feels the slightly nubbly texture of his shirt under her fingers, the solid warmth of his shoulder as she leans back, fixing her gaze outward. Just touching him is comforting. Just his arms.

"Weiss…"

"Hm?"

"They showed up. Addie and Derek, I mean."

"They showed up," Weiss agrees quietly. "They showed up for you."

"Yeah, for me." Savvy stretches slightly, looking out at the golden reeds stretching their way to the gently lapping sea. "Does it count as showing up if it's showing up for me?" She pauses, then answers her own question. "I guess it's something, anyway…."

Weiss doesn't say anything, but she feels the press of his lips to the top of her head as they both watch the little white blot of a fishing boat bobbing up and down in the water.


TBC. Please let me know what you think! Also, I'll admit it, I just love Savvy and Weiss. And I don't think I've met an Addek who doesn't. We may have only spent one episode with them, but they managed to make quite an impression. I'm excited to spend more time with them ... they may be the only people as invested in Addison and Derek as we are!

Title from I'll Meet you in the Morning by Albert E. Brumley