This has been taking forever, I know. Sorry about that.

Read and enjoy!

A Heart's Desire

Realizations

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Hey, Summer," Seth said as he entered the backyard of his parents' house. Summer was playing with Leah while Kirsten and Sandy cleared the table from breakfast. "You ready to go?"

Summer kissed her daughter's head for the twentieth time that morning. "In a minute." She didn't as much as look at him, her whole attention was on their daughter where she sat on the floor laughing.

Seth had never imagined Summer as that kind of mother, the one who had so much love for the child that she couldn't even leave it for few hours. Summer seldom left Leah at all. She was constantly carrying around the little girl, not caring if she had to do laundry or dishes. Summer always managed to find a way for Leah to be near her.

"Alright," he mumbled and leaned down, giving each of them a loss on the cheek and patting the small girl on the head. He had by now learnt that trying to separate those two was possibly the most difficult task he'd ever tried. At least separating them against Summer's will. "Just come soon," Seth said before leaving the twosome, walking back inside.

Kirsten stood by the counter, looking out through the window over the sink, as he walked in. "Seth," she sighed and gestured for him to come join her. "Just look at them." And he did. Seth saw Summer pulling his daughter into her lap, content smiles on both of their faces. They were his family; his everything. He loved them more than life itself.

"They're…"

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder and carefully leaned against his side. "They're your family, your everything," she stated. "I still remember when you were born. I used to watch your father and you. Just like this."

"How am I gonna be able to take her with me and leave Leah here?" Seth asked, seriously worried that he'd never get to be alone with Summer again. It wasn't that he minded Leah, and Summer spending time with her. He loved them together. But he needed some time with Summer; they needed to relax. And Summer needed to learn how to leave their girl.

Even since Leah's birth everything had been so different; they had both been busy with their new family member and almost forgotten about each other. Not forgotten, but it certainly wasn't the same. Seth would still kiss her goodnight before she went to sleep, and Summer would always give him a long embrace before he went to work. Though that snuggling at the couch and sharing chair at the table or Summer eating lunch at Seth's job rarely happened anymore.

"She knows that she needs to come with you. She wants to."

"I hope so, mom."

They watched how Summer picked Leah up and started to walk to the house. A second later she was inside, beaming at her daughter. "There's daddy and grandma; can you say hi to them, baby?"

"There you two are," the mature woman said. "I was starting to worry when you'd come inside." Kirsten smiled, "I'm gonna go see Julie. Mind if I take her with me?" She looked first from Seth, who nodded, to Summer looking a little uncertain.

"Um," the brunette said and gazed down to her daughter. With the realization of she and Seth going soon she knew that she would have to leave Leah here. "I guess." She nervously tried to get Seth to say something but he just nodded and motioned for her to give his mother the baby. "Mommy loves you, sweetie," Summer cooed to Leah and kissed her on both cheeks. "You're gonna stay with grandma for a little while, okay? But daddy and I will come get you soon."

"I promise to take excellent care of her, Summer. We'll have fun."

"Yeah, I know," Summer sadly said and gave Leah to Seth. Once she sat in his arms Summer placed her hand on Leah's small head and kissed her nose. "I'll miss you, baby."

After Seth had said his goodbyes to Leah and Summer had given her at least ten more kisses, Kirsten took her and went out of the room. Summer pouted, "Can't we take her with us? I mean, isn't it best for her to be near us?" Seth tilted his head and grabbed her shoulders, sighing. "I know. I'm sorry. It's gonna be great to be just the two of us. I just-"

"I know. You want to be with her constantly. But now she's in good hands. And we need to get away." She still looked a little uncertain. "I feel like we haven't been just the two of us since she was born. And we need that time. At least I do."

Summer sadly looked up at him. "I do too, honey. It's just really hard to leave her. Even if it's just here."

Reassuringly rubbing her forearm Seth smiled. He knew that she had these attachment issues; and he knew that her own relationship with her mother only made those stronger. She so desperately wanted to be the best mother to Leah, and Seth knew that she was. She didn't need to try; she just was this perfect and loving mom. And to his daughter. "It's hardest the first time. But you'll be okay."

"I know," she pouted and leaned her head against his shoulder. Seth smiled and wrapped an arm around her, walking her out to the foyer.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The silver BMW drove up to a familiar house, after having been on the road for about forty minutes. Summer had not been very impatient in the car, nor asked where they were going. She didn't even get suspicious when they'd steered into a gravel road.

Seth sat in the driver's seat, concentrating on the driving while regularly checking on his wife who was being awfully quiet. He'd expected to hear her complaining about the hot weather and the fact that she had no idea where they were going. She was being silent though, much to Seth's concern. He'd figured that it would take a while for her to get used to the fact that Leah wasn't there with them but he'd never imagined that she'd be dead silent.

"You okay, Sum?"

She seemed to have noticed where they were now, as Seth killed the engine and turned to look at her. They were at the lake house, the place where Leah was born. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why are we here, Seth?"

Confused, and slightly stunned, Seth scratched his chin nervously. Did she not like the idea of them coming here again? Maybe she hated this place after all of that pain she'd been through here. "Um, I wanted us to get away. To a place we could be alone in."

"You brought phones this time, right? And chargers?"

Seth nodded, trying to read her feelings by the tone in her voice. "They're in the bag. You can check if you want to."

"No. That's not necessary." Summer opened the car door and stepped outside. When she realized that Seth was still in the car she stuck her head in. "You coming?"

"Yeah. Sure." Seth blinked and exited the car he too, hearing Summer close the door. "I'm coming."

They quietly walked up the steps to the house, Seth behind Summer carrying their bags. He let a big sigh out and hoped for things to stop being so weird. So he had obviously picked the wrong place, but was it so terrible without Leah that Summer couldn't even show a little bit of happiness? She usually liked all of his surprises, and he'd really thought she'd like to come here again.

"I feel like going down to the lake. Is that okay?" Seth said as he'd placed the bags in the living room. He looked at Summer, though sort of avoiding her eye contact.

She shrugged and glanced at the two bags. "Sure, I'll start unpacking."

Seth made a nod and slowly walked out through the French doors, leaving Summer standing in the middle of the living room with the two bags next to her. She frowned and tugged at her lip, feeling so out of place. She was more confused than she'd ever been before.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Seth gazed out over the lake; saw the cliffs and all the trees while thinking that he loved this place. For a minute all of the things he'd had on his mind disappeared. He was so focused and relaxed by the surroundings that he didn't notice a small figure coming closer to him where he stood out on the bridge.

He jumped as he felt two arms wrap themselves around his torso, his heart beginning to beat awfully fast. "Jesus, Summer," he shakily said while bringing his wife with his arms so that she stood before him. "You scared me."

She innocently smiled. "Sorry."

"I'm okay now." Seth put his arms over her shoulders from behind, resting his chin on top of her head while she leaned against him, her back against his chest. "You feeling better?"

Summer nodded, knowing what he was referring to. She settled closer against him and forced his arms to tighten around her. "I'm sorry, Cohen. For acting like a baby about this." She turned around in his arms, so that her eyes were gazing up into his. "I do want to be here with you, because I miss just being the two of us. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, Sum. I get it. You becoming a mother has changed things, and made you feel things you've never felt before. Everything was supposed to change, I knew that. I knew that a baby would forever change us."

Carefully, afraid to make it sound wrong, Summer said; "Do you regret it?"

"No. Of course not." Seth placed both of his hands on her face. "But I can understand that you're being unsure in that area, because of the way the pregnancy started. The fact that it wasn't planned." Summer lowered her head and swallowed nervously. Seth noticed how anxious she was. "But hey, this is better than I'd ever believed. Having Leah has been fantastic and I wouldn't change anything. I don't regret anything, Summer."

"Are you sure? Because I know I haven't been the same, I know that I've spent less time with you and it's just different being three. But I promise you that I think about you every time I stay home with Leah, even if I love her company. I miss being with you."

"I miss it, too. That's why I took you here."

"And I love you for it," Summer whispered and stood up on her toes to place a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, Seth."

"Love you, too." Seth grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers and began to walk back up to the house. He felt how Summer smiled without looking at her and after a second he started to beam as well. He'd missed to hang out with the wife, and he'd certainly missed to see her like this; happy without Leah on her arm.

"Hey, Cohen," Summer said in a seductive voice, lightly brushing against him where she walked on his side. "Maybe we could go upstairs."

Seth smiled, causing his dimples to appear and Summer to quickly reach up and kiss one. "We could do that." He laughed and pulled Summer closer to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to draw her in. "By the way, honey. I bought the house."

This is the last chapter before the epilogue. So, the story's coming to an end.