Within weeks, Hallie went into labor and laid her egg. It was a good size. It was placed into the incubator she had gotten.

Since Randall wasn't here anymore, she really wanted a son. She turned the temperature to stimulate a boy. But she wouldn't have minded a daughter too. Maybe at a later date if she ever found another male to love.

Now that the egg was here, she needed to get the nursery set up too. Her parents came over and helped to set it up from all the things she had gotten from the baby shower. She also began going through her baby name book.

She looked up Randall's name and it meant 'wolf shield.' She then looked up her own name and it meant 'strong in war.'

It was amazing how their names had like battle meanings. She had stood up to him and didn't let his temper get to her all the time when it got to so many others. But when she had been pregnant, she couldn't help herself when she had been upset.

Hallie would look for a good strong name.

….

Randall had been in the swamp for over four months. He was tired of living like an animal. He had moved on from where he had first come in. He had been shot at for raiding trash or getting in and scaring chickens.

His injuries had healed awkwardly since being here. He was looking so hard for a home that had small children, hoping to find a way home. He couldn't be wearing bandages when he got back. He would need to rely on his invisibility to get out safely and find his way to his apartment or to Hallie's.

He soon did find a house that had two small kids. One of each. It was a nice spring day and they were having fun playing outside. Randall knew this was a good chance at getting inside and finding one of their rooms.

He wasn't in the mood for trying to scare or anything else. He just wanted to get home. He looked in the window first to see any sign of a parent.

There was one in the kitchen, evidently making a snack or something, as she was chopping up some vegetables.

Randall then began looking around sides of the house, to see if there were any open windows. He saw one on the south side. It was upstairs. Using his special pads on his hands and feet, he climbed up to it and went inside.

It turned out to be the parent's bedroom. But it was okay. He was inside. Now he just needed to look for one of the kid's rooms. He snuck out of the parent's room and went down the halls.

He found the girl's room first. This did remind him of the little girl's room who he had taken for a test subject. But he didn't dwell on that. He got under the bed. This was going to take a lot of patience, something he didn't have much of, but he had learned some.

He had lost some weight out there in the swamp, as food wasn't so easy to come by all the time. But he hoped he was going home, tonight!

Later on, the girl was tucked into her warm, cozy bed. Randall felt the weight on the bed. She had to be about eight. He would have given anything to sleep in a nice soft bed again. Out there, he had slept on the wet ground or in trees at times. It just depended where he was and what was available.

Randall found himself thinking about Hallie all the time. It was what kept him going the most. Though he still did feel that he wanted revenge on Sullivan and Wazowski for banishing him.

Soon, there was a creak from the closet and a monster came out. Randall couldn't tell who it was and he didn't really care. He just wanted back inside.

But the monster in question was telling jokes and made himself fall on some jacks instead of trying to scare the girl. She ended up laughing her lungs out. The monster was thanking her and he began backing out.

Now was his chance! Making sure he was invisible, he bolted for the door. He jumped onto the wall and jumped through, just as it closed.

Randall Boggs was back at Monsters, Inc. He was happy to be back in the monster world. Even if he was found and went to prison, he would much rather be here than in the human world. At least he would still have chances to see Hallie, even in prison. But he had to find her first.

He had a look around him too. From the big letters and numbers, he even did see his old station number. He was on the F floor, but something was quite off.

Everyone was doing like circus stunts. There were balloons everywhere. It was like a child's playhouse. But whatever was going on, he wasn't going to stick around.

He did go to the kitchen, seeking Hallie. He did manage to make her out. He smiled a big one for the first time in a long time. He had never felt so happy to be seeing her. She looked well and very beautiful to him.

But he knew seeing her here was not the time and place. He would go to her place and surprise her.

Randall left the building, mainly sticking to the ceiling or walls so he wouldn't run into anyone, but still left out the main doors. On the street, he didn't know if it was right to let himself be seen.

Soon, he did run across a billboard with some of Monstropolis' Most Wanted. His name and picture was on it. As he looked at it, he questioned it. Did he really look that mean?

He didn't want to be that same old rotten lizard anymore. He had to forget it if he wanted to be a better person for Hallie. He still remembered how they used to have fun together. He continued to what he hoped was her apartment.

He knew where she kept a spare key. He found it and let himself into the apartment. He wasn't going to let her keep him shut out this time.

As he looked around, it all still looked pretty much the same. It would still be some time before everyone was off work, so he had time to make himself some food and sit on the couch. He turned on the TV, just to pass the time and he eventually fell asleep. This was the first time in a long time being able to sleep on a soft surface and had some food that he could microwave.

….

Hallie came home after 5:30 in the evening. She had had a busy day. But when she got in, it was surprising to see her TV was on.

But even more shocking was to see a familiar form on her couch. Her eyes widened.

Randall!

She turned the TV off. She picked up a broom in case he might be up to something.

"Randall!" She shouted.

Randall woke up so startled that he fell off the couch.

He was on his stomach on the floor and he looked up at the woman he loved, only she had a broom in her hands.

"Oh, hey. I was uh, just in the neighborhood." He said with a shy grin, picking himself up.

Hallie was not appeased. She did notice however that he did look different than the last time she saw him.

Randall saw the broom in her hands. "Look, Hallie, I can explain. Please, put the broom down. I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

"How could you do those horrible things?! And what are you doing here?" She demanded angrily. She began to move toward the hallway, blocking it.

"I had to come back to talk to you. I tried for four long months to get back here. I just got back today. You were on my mind constantly. I was-"

"Banished? Yes, I know, Sullivan told me. I barely managed to get it out of him. So most of the city doesn't even know you were banished."

Randall felt relieved somewhat but he knew she could still get him into trouble.

"Hallie, please. I'm not here to cause trouble. I tried to tell you before my banishment that even though I was a rotten lizard for doing what I did, that I wasn't going to give up on you. I'm sorry for what I did. For hurting you and doing the things I did. I was just so desperate to try to get my project to succeed and then things would have been just fine. I wouldn't be working so hard all the time. We could have been rich and happy."

"I don't care about being rich, I cared about you. I never did stop caring about you, Randall. But the things you did were wrong, including trying to kill Sullivan, Mike, and that little girl."

"Are you with him, as his girl now?"

"No. We are just friends. Sullivan is the new CEO now. Waternoose was arrested. The factory was shut down for a month trying to figure out it's next move. We are lucky we got back in business. Laughter was found to be ten times stronger than screaming."

"At least it's in business. But I know I don't have what it takes to be a clown."

"You have a good sense of humor. That was one of the things I fell in love with about you, when you were a gentleman."

"I can be that way again, Hallie. I'm going to do it for you."

"You're going to have to do it for more than me. Do it also for yourself. And for somebody else."

"For Sullivan? He's the reason I lost everything!"

"No, not for him. Before you were banished, I tried to tell you multiple times about something, but you were always too busy or mad to listen to me. Randall Boggs, you are going to be a father!" She blurted it out.

Randall was shocked silent. His eyes were wide. He just stared at her. Then he looked down at her. He didn't see any signs of pregnancy.

"I- I'm sorry. When are you due?"

"I laid the egg while you were gone. It should be hatching in June. You may be the father, but you will do nothing to harm it!"

"Why would I do that? I know this is a little shocking to me, but you could have told me. I would have done all I could to support you. I'm sorry you had to go through it alone."

"I tried to tell you, but your greed and lust for power got in the way of that."

"Waternoose forced me to do all that. He had threatened to harm you a few times if I didn't do what he said. He gave me nothing but lectures. He also ordered me to kill Sullivan. He was more power hungry than me. I only wanted to make the best life possible too, for the city, and for us."

Hallie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Waternoose had threatened her? He had seemed so nice to her.

"Do I have the honest, absolute truth from you that he did those things?"

"Yes. You have my word." He gave her the most sincere face he could give her.

"I know you have hated Sullivan for a long time. I bet you did want to kill him."

"I wanted him out of the picture. I guess I was just so starved for wanting to be recognized for something good I could do to save the city. I have gotten so much hatred all my life and I just wanted to do something good for a change. I didn't mean to harm anyone, but we did need a test subject to see if my machine would work. It was just one kid. I wouldn't have gotten anymore."

"It was thanks to that kid that we found our new energy source. But what you tried to do with that kid, how can I trust you with your ours?"

"Hallie, I will never harm our child. I swear. I also came back to ask you something. I know what I did was wrong now, and I'm sorry. I never meant to harm anyone. But I still deeply love you. I don't have a ring right now, but would you marry me?"

Hallie's eyes went wide. She saw the deepest soulful look in his eyes right now.

"It will take you awhile to gain my trust back, buster. But, I have cared for you for so long. I can't say yes just yet." She said.

"I promise, I'll work hard to gain it back. I want to do the right thing and for us to be a family."

"You are even really going to have to prove yourself once again to my parents. They heard what you did too and weren't happy about it."

"I'll do anything to make it up to all of you." Randall said.

"What about your own family?"

"Huh?"

"You never did contact them. I did get in touch with them. They seem nice. And yes, they know about the baby too."

Randall didn't know what to say.

"If you want to be a family, you need to reconnect with them too. They will be part of your child's life."

"I'll try." He said.

Soon, they had dinner after finishing their conversation. Hallie did put down the broom. They both did give each other kisses and hugs for missing each other so much. Soon, Hallie did show Randall to the other room, which was now a nursery.

Randall saw how it was mostly blue. "Is the baby going to be a boy?" He asked. "The room just has that look."

"Yes. I wanted it to be a boy."

Randall finally got to see the egg that was his in the incubator. He almost couldn't hardly believe it. He was going to be a father.

The reality of it finally sunk in and he smiled. He hugged and kissed Hallie again. "Again, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"We'll get through this." She said.

At bedtime, he did want to go to the bedroom with her, but she stopped him.

"I love you, Randall, but I'm not ready for you to be in the room with me just yet. You can have the couch."

"Alright." He was going to respect her wishes.

He took the couch. He wanted so much to be able to hold her in his arms again, in bed. He wanted to get started making up with her. But respecting what she wanted was a good start.

Today, he had dealt with her, but what would tomorrow bring?