Abby's brown eyes narrowed suspiciously as she peered around the corner post of the pavilion toward the park bench not far away. Two people sat on the bench looking out toward the Lake Michigan shoreline. The sidewalk lamps had been on for ages and it was nearly dark. But she could see them shadowed in the circle of lamplight. She shifted the straps of the backpack baby carrier carefully so as not to wake Joe. He was sound asleep with his head on her shoulder. She started as Luka leaned close to press another kiss to his sleeping son's head and then wrapped his arms around both of them.

"Leave them alone, Abby," he admonished her. She sighed heavily and glanced back toward her mother and father who were sitting on the bench she had been watching. "Let's go home." She shook her head slightly.

"I don't think she's ready to leave just yet."

"She's a big girl," Luka said quietly. "She can find her way back to our place." He reached for her hand and tugged. "Come on." Abby turned reluctantly and looked around the now empty park pavilion. Luka had already taken their grill and leftovers and the bag of gifts to the car. She looked up at him.

"Our baby is a year old, Luka,"she sighed. "This year went so fast." He tugged at her hand.

"I know," he said. He tugged again impatiently. She turned her head and carefully leaned her cheek on the baby's soft hair. She turned her eyes toward Luka's impatient face.

"He is so sound asleep," she laughed quietly. "All this fresh air … he will probably sleep like this all night long." Luka rolled his eyes and tugged her hand again.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Abby frowned a little and then looked up at him. He was studying her face in the greenish light from the pavilion lamps over head. He rolled his eyes again and grinned. She grinned as she realized the reason for his urgency and shook her head.

"You're not tired after all this?" she teased. He shook his head and his grin widened as she playfully dragged her feet toward their car parked nearby. She turned as he carefully lifted the sleeping baby from the back carrier and buckled him into the waiting car seat. He took the baby carrier from her shoulders, stowed it on the floor and quietly shut the back door. He hurried around to the other side of the car as she pulled herself up into the passenger seat, buckled her seat belt and glanced one more time at the couple sitting on the bench before she shut her door. Luka turned the key to start the car and pulled it out of the parking spot and toward the park entrance and street.

"Is she still watching us?" Eddie asked her as he took a last drag on his cigarette. Maggie snapped the mirrored compact in her hand shut and slipped it into her bag.

"Nope," she chuckled. "They just left." He laughed and nodded.

"You did a good job, Maggie," he said as he dropped the butt to the sidewalk and ground it with the toe of his foot. "She's great."

"Abby?" Maggie shook her head. "No. She pretty much raised herself…and me….in the process. She didn't have anyone else." Eddie frowned a bit at the slight directed at him and nodded. Maggie glanced at him to see the reaction to her words. She expected him to start into his usual litany of excuses and was inwardly surprised when he didn't. Eddie leaned forward for a moment with his elbows resting on his knees as she looked out at the dark water. He sighed heavily and leaned back against the bench and then turned to look at her. He was surprised to see her watching him and grinned.

"We were really something in the beginning, weren't we?" he said. "Had that…..magic?" Maggie shook her head.

"Magic?" she scoffed. "I don't know about that. We were just kids. So young." Eddie laughed and looked at her again. Their eyes met and then she looked away as she blushed .

"Yeah……magic," he said again and reached over to pick up her hand. "You know, I still remember what you were wearing when I first set eyes on you?"

"Oh please…." She laughed and slipped her hand from his.

"It's true," he said. "What were those kind of pants called that are wider at the end?" Maggie looked at him and frowned slightly.

"Bell bottoms…." She whispered disbelievingly.

"Yeah! That's it. You looked like you had a god damned skirt around both of your knees….." He shook his head and grinned as he looked at his feet as he was lost in his remembrance. "They had those crazy shapes all over….."

"Paisley print," Maggie offered.

"And a putrid green sweater…."

"I borrowed it from Gina," she said softly and pulled her jacket closer. She was suddenly chilled by the slight breeze coming off the lake. Or maybe it wasn't the air…..but something else.

"And you were dressed all in black….." her voice was quiet. "Quite the bad boy with your pool cue and whiskey shots." He chuckled and nodded slowly.

"First time and only time I ever really wanted to lose a billiard bet…." His eyes met her's and they searched one another's faces for a long moment. Her's looked peaceful…older but still pretty. Very pretty. His cragginess and lines told the tale of a life time of hard knocks. And he was still handsome. She could still see that bad boy in him that had attracted her in the first place. She could see the stubborn set of Abby's chin and Eric's thick curly hair and grey eyes in him. He had never really been gone from her life. She'd had constant daily reminders of what she had lost. What she had driven away. She had actually spent most of her life blaming him but it had been both of them. Lord knows it had taken her a long time to really understand how her disease affected the people around her. She couldn't blame him any more. They'd been so young…….