Author's Note: some people really enjoyed that last chapter and I want to say thank you for all your nice comments! Everyone is so nice here and it really keeps me motivated to finish this story! Thanks a bunch!

Chapter 39 – Thump-Thump

Sara and Charlotte stayed in a hotel that night. Sara managed to get plane tickets to Vegas for 9 in the morning. Charlotte was pretty rattled and Sara spent a good part of the night trying to settle her down enough to get her to sleep. Sara was pretty rattled herself and she ended up only getting about two hours of sleep.

The next morning Sara tried to cheer Charlotte up by getting room service. She seemed happy enough but she still seemed a little depressed. They caught their plane to Vegas and Charlotte fell asleep again. Sara couldn't so she just watched the movie, looking over at her restless daughter every once in a while. It pained her to see Charlotte so upset and she wanted to take that pain away. She wanted to take all of it away. She almost wanted to take back what she had yelled to Alex's mother. Almost.

Charlotte slept the entire way. She had been so deprived of sleep Sara almost didn't want to wake her when the plane landed. But she had to and they went home, both extremely tired. Sara flopped down on her bed and just stared at the ceiling for awhile. She heard Charlotte walk in and rolled her head over to look at her.

"Mommy?" she asked quietly.

"Uh-huh?" she answered, barely using the energy to talk.

"Can I have a cuddle?" Ever since she was little, whenever she was sad, she would ask for a cuddle. The last time she asked for a cuddle was when Jeff had pushed her down the stairs, and she really didn't ask for them unless she was very upset. Sara sat up and beckoned her over to the bed. Charlotte made a running leap onto the bed and gravitated into her arms. She snuggled into Sara and rested her head on her chest, listening closely for the thump-thump. She heard it and closed her eyes and smiled. That sound was the best sound in the world. They sat like that for awhile before Charlotte asked the question she had been meaning to ask.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Why does it go thump-thump?"

"What?" Sara looked down at her.

"When I put my head on your chest it goes thump-thump…thump-thump…"

Sara gave half a laugh. "Oh. That's my heart."

Charlotte put her head back on Sara's chest. She listened to her heart again. "Why does it do that?" she asked over the thumping.

Sara was still smiling. "Do you know what a heart does?" Charlotte shook her head. "Your heart pumps blood through your body, and every time my heart goes thump, it pumps blood into my body."

"Wow," Charlotte whispered as she listened some more. "Do I have a heart too?" she asked after another minute of listening to Sara's heart.

"Yep." Sara took Charlotte's hand and raised it to her chest. She held still a second. "You feel it?"

Charlotte's eyes widened. "Yeah," she breathed. Sara smiled. She took her hand and brushed Charlotte's hair out of her face. She kissed the girl's forehead and looked at her deep blue eyes.

"Love you!" Charlotte said with a big smile.

Sara smiled wider. Alex's last words to her echoed through her head again. Love you too," Sara said.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

Sara woke up slowly, her body feeling heavy. She opened her eyes and looked at her stomach. Charlotte was lying there, asleep. She smiled and rested her head back on the pillow, stroking Charlotte's hair. She looked at the clock. 7:18 pm. She looked back at the sleeping girl and held her steady while she gently rolled her off her. She got out of bed and took the phone with her. Nick would be up by now. She dialed as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He picked up just as she sat down.

"Stokes." Sara could tell he hadn't been sleeping.

"Hey, Nicky," she smiled even as she said hello.

"Hey, Sar. What's up?"

Sara couldn't remember what she wanted to talk about for a second. Then it came back. "I'm back."

"You're back?"

"I'm back."

"What are you doing back so early?"

"I…" Sara didn't know how to tell him she called her mother-in-law a bitch and forbade her daughter to ever see her again. "I got in a little fight with Mrs. Montez. I left."

Nick was silent a moment but when he did speak it was obvious he was trying to suppress a laugh. "You fought with your mother-in-law?"

Sara tried to suppress her own smile. "I fought with her."

Nick was silent another moment. "What…exactly…did you say? Exactly?"

"She said that she thought I shouldn't work and I told her…no."

"Sara…" Nick's tone was warning, but he was still suppressing that laugh.

"What?"

"What…exactly…did you say?"

"Nothing! I-"

"Sara Sidle."

Sara smiled and looked at the table. "I called her a bitch."

Nick actually laughed this time. "Well, now. THAT is priceless. You actually called her a bitch?"

Sara didn't answer right away. "Yeah," she said quickly, still smiling.

"Oh, Sara…never a dull moment. Now, what did she do that deserved her being called a bitch?" He was still amused.

"Ok, I had reason." Sara wasn't as amused anymore. The whole fight came back to her and she frowned.

"Sara?" She had drifted off.

"Oh. Yeah. She told me I should get a nanny for Charlotte because she wasn't loved."

"Oh," Nick said, also less amused.

"Yeah. Oh. Then she went on to say that I didn't need to work and I could use the money Alex gave me. And I should give Charlotte to her and-"

"Wait...what?"

Sara was confused. "What?"

"What money."

Uh-oh. She hadn't told him about that yet. She really didn't want to tell anyone, but she was a little glad it was Nick she had slipped up to. "Um…the money Alex gave me," she answered timidly.

Nick was quiet a second. She wished she was doing this in person and not over the phone. She wished he was beside her, holding her hand while she told him.

"How much money?" he asked quietly. Sara tried to read the tone in his voice but it was hopeless. She had never been good at reading people and not seeing his face didn't help at all.

"5…5…" the words caught in her mouth and she couldn't finish it.

"5 what?"

"5…" she took a breath. "5 million."

Sara heard Nick's breath catch in his throat. "5 million?" Sara could picture his face in her mind's eye. She could see his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Yeah."

Nick didn't speak for a minute. Then, "5…oh my God, Sara…Where did he get this money?"

Sara explained the story with his grandmother. He explained that Charlotte had the same amount in her name and how her mother-in-law wanted her to use it to get a nanny.

When she was finished she listened for Nick to reply. He didn't for a long while but Sara didn't urge him. She knew he would answer her eventually.

"Wow," he finally whispered.

"Yeah. That's why I left. I couldn't take her anymore." Sara clenched her fist and looked at her nails.

"Are you ok with not seeing her anymore?" he asked after a moment.

"Oh, yeah. I never liked her anyway…its Charlotte I'm worried about. She already has so few people in her life that she…she should. I don't think me taking away the only grandparents she knows away is the best idea."

"She doesn't have any other family?"

Sara hung her head again. "Her aunt lives in Australia. Other then her there are no other living relatives."

Nick thought about that a moment. "What about your parents?"

Sara scratched her forehead. This subject was too touchy to do over the phone. She decided to put a band-aid on it and tell him the whole story later. "Charlotte doesn't know them. She will never meet them. That's a different story."

"Ok." Nick was silent again. Then, "Sar?"

"Yeah?"

"What you were talking to me about…in San Francisco?"

"About Alex?"

"Yeah." Nick cleared his throat. Sara could tell something was bothering him. "You said you were ok with Alex…being gone. You said you could move on."

"Yeah."

Nick cleared his throat again. "You can talk about him?"

Sara was confused. Where was this going with this? "Yeah…"

"Well…ever since you told me about him, you haven't told me anything about him. That night…when you told me you loved me…you said that Alex popped into your mind. I realized I don't know anything about this guy. I…I want you to tell me about him."

Sara was still confused but she was surprised at the same time. "You want to know about Alex?"

"Yeah. I want to…learn about him. We don't have to do it now…actually I wanted to do it in person…but whenever you're ready…I want to learn about your husband."