She found him still lying in the same spot on the lawn, looking up into the clouds. Dropping down next to him, she gazed upwards too, and for a while, they didn't speak.

She felt Luke move next to her, turning on his side so he could look at her, before he broke the silence. "I never thought I would have children. Not in this world."

She sighed. "I thought I would have them with someone else – a lot later."

"I'm sorry I messed that up for you. How... how did Jack take it?"

"He didn't know, for a long time. I didn't know I was pregnant until after Jack had been abducted by the Technos and I had been shipped off to a prison island. I had Murron there, but when she was a few weeks old, they erased my memories of her and sent me back to the city." She saw his outraged look and silenced him with a gesture. It was better to lay it all out before letting him talk again. "Jack and I continued where we had left off, we only found out that she existed when we accidentally ended up on the island when we were running from Mega's supposed super-virus. Then, when I had her back, and remembered what happened, he took it all right, I guess. As well as could be expected, at first – he tried to take us both, but in the end, he couldn't do it. She started looking too much like you."

He was still staring at her, flabbergasted by all that she had been through – it was even more than he had imagined. He had thought that she had gotten through her pregnancy at home, at the Mall – instead, everything that could have gone wrong in her life did go wrong. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I wanted you to be free of me, not to be reminded of what I did for the rest of your life. And all this crap that happened afterwards... I'm so sorry."

Ellie smiled. "Yet here she is, the joy of my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. All the things that happened – it ended up with me having her."

"Aren't you angry?"

She shook her head. "No. I won't pretend that having Murron hasn't cost me dearly – but I would never want to be without her. She is... everything."

"I'm sorry about you and Jack. You were supposed to be together, you were made for each other. Me, I was just a glitch."

She could feel that it pained him to say it, and wanted to soften his pain a little. "No, you weren't. At the time, I really loved you – or as much as one can love, at fifteen. When you left, I was devastated – and Jack was there for me. That's when I realized that I loved him, too – and he took me back, even though I didn't deserve it. I loved you, but I can never forgive myself for what I did to him when I fell in love with you – and for what I did to him when I had your child instead of his."

"I'm sorry" he repeated.

She shrugged. "It's the way it is. I have to live with it. And I have Murron – having her makes up for anything."

"I'm glad. At least something."

He turned onto his back again and let his eyes drift back up to the clouds. After a while, he heard Ellie speak again. "So what happened to you after you left?"

It was his turn to shrug. "Well, the Guardian caught up to me – tried to get me to join up with him again. I was tempted, to have a purpose again – but I ended up going my own way. I just sort of wandered around for a while – visited some other islands, had a look at how other people lived – and then I heard about that second virus being released in your city, so I started looking for you. I didn't even know I was at first, I just asked around, seeing what I could find out about it – but it somehow became this thing where wherever I went, I'd be looking for you. Sometimes, I'd stay somewhere for some time, a few months, maybe, but in the end, I always kept on moving. And then I ended up here." He rolled over onto his stomach and rested his head on his arms, his eyes boring into hers.

After a few seconds, she broke away, almost a little breathless. There had been too much in those eyes.

"Damn. You did come here to win me back."

His answering laugh startled her. "No, I didn't. I mean I'm not going to act like that didn't cross my mind, but I realize that we're not the same people we were back then. I came to see you because I felt about you the way you feel about Jack – that I messed up so bad that I needed to apologize, and if it was the last thing I did."

She laughed, too. "Bet you didn't expect this."

He snorted. "Definitely not." Silence stretched out between them. "So what happens now?" he finally asked.

"Well, for starters... I won't keep you away from Murron, if you want to get to know her. But you've got to decide whether you want to be a permanent fixture in our daughter's life. Because I wouldn't blame you if you decided to leave, but if you don't plan on staying, I won't tell Murron that you're her father. I don't want her to be heartbroken when you leave."

"That sounds fair."

She looked back at him. "Do you need time to think about it?"

"No. I have a daughter now. I could never leave my child behind."

They ascended the stairs together, much as he had last night with Lottie, but this time, they didn't go to the last room on the landing. Ellie stopped in front of the second door, which was decorated with fingerpaintings of butterflies and flowers, and turned to Luke.

"I guess there's no right way of doing this so... would you mind waiting outside for a few minutes? I'll call you inside when we're ready."

He nodded. "I get that this is... hard for you. You've never really had to share her. Take your time. Or, you know, if you'd rather, we can do it tomorrow morning."

She squared her shoulders. "No. It's like... ripping off a band-aid. Gotta do it quick. Besides, I've got one hell of a bright kid. As soon as she sees you in daylight, she's gonna see her eyes staring at her outta your face. I'd rather tell her before that." She took one last deep breath, and opened the door.

Murron was sitting on her bed, reading one of Dee's cookbooks, frowning whenever a particularly hard word crossed her way, moving her lips as she silently spelled out the letters. Yet again, Ellie caught herself wishing they had more children's books in the house, Murron had outgrown the few they owned.

She sat down next to her daughter, and waited until she looked up.

"Sweetie, I need to talk to you about something really important."

Brilliant blue eyes fixed themselves on her face, the book resting forgotten on her knees. "What is it, mommy?"

Ellie pulled her into her lap, hugging her tightly.

"Do you remember how you used to ask about your daddy?"

"Sure I do. You said he wasn't all that important, because we have each other."

"I did. Do you know why I said that?"

"Because he's not coming here."

"Yes. Do you know why?"

"Because he doesn't wanna come?"

"No, honey. Because he doesn't know we're here."

"Oh." Murron fell silent, while Ellie rocked her quietly, thinking about how to go on.

"Baby, would you like to meet your daddy?"

Murron fidgeted around in her mother's lap. "I don't know. What if I don't like him?" Ellie smiled into her hair.

"Oh, you'd like him, I'm sure. And I think he'd really like you too."

"Then I guess I would. But he doesn't know we're here."

Ellie turned Murron around so that she could look into her daughter's eyes. "What if I told you that he does know, now?"

She watched the smile building up in her child's face, and laughed when Murron began nodding vigorously. Once more, she pulled her close, and whispered in her ear. "Go open the door."

Murron practically flew across the room, and snatched the door open.

For a second, she didn't understand, simply staring at Luke, the stranger whose bed she had made yesterday.

"Daddy?"

His face broke into the broadest smile she had ever seen, and he nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me you were my daddy yesterday?"

"I'm so sorry, baby. I didn't know."

"Didn't you want me?"

"Oh yes, baby. I just didn't know you were here."

She took him by the hand and led him to the window, gesturing to him to sit down on the window seat. Then she climbed up next to him, and turned his face towards the setting sun, and just looked.

Luke did the same, drinking in the face of his daughter – the nose and the chin were Ellie's, but the eyes were his, definitely his. The mouth was somewhere in between his and hers, the hair was all Ellie, the dimples all himself.

They didn't need any words.

Neither of them noticed Ellie slipping out of the room.