AN: Thank you so much to everyone who sent reviews, PM's and basic good wishes. I treat negative reviews in the same way as I do positive. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but personally, if I don't like something, I don't waste time reading all the way through. I press the back button! Seriously though, thank you. It means a lot to have your support.

Huge thanks also to Purdy's Pal for her help with this chapter

5

Fiona's mind was racing as she drove to Madeline's house. She kept replaying Michael's brief telephone call over and over inside her head, as if she could find some kind of clue to where he had been.

Trying to focus, she thought of every major news event that had been covered in the past month, hoping and praying that he hadn't been caught up amongst any of them. She ran through every scenario in her mind to combat every logical thought, causing irrational fear to spread through her.

What if he was hurt? What if they told him he had to stay on for longer? What if the next mission lasted for months on end, taking him away from her and their child? He'd already missed the sonogram and the baby's first movements, what if he missed the birth too? By the time she pulled into Madeline's driveway she had already convinced herself that something was terribly wrong.

Madeline was in her kitchen cleaning her counter tops when the front door flew open. She jumped dramatically and was about to go and investigate when a very dishevelled Fiona came barrelling through.

"Please tell me he called you," she gasped urgently, her eyes shining with worry.

"Honey, what happened?" Madeline went to her wavering form and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Did he call you?" Fiona asked, her voice rough as she tried to get the words out. "Oh god…"

Madeline manoeuvred her onto the couch and slowly sat down with her, holding onto her hands. "It's okay…he called Sam too, he's fine. He's going to be home by tomorrow night."

"He got cut off," Fiona's voice rose in pitch and she tried desperately to gain control of her racing heartbeat. "I…hate not knowing…"

Madeline smoothed her hands over Fiona's flushed face and pulled her towards her, rocking her gently. "He said something about the signal being bad. Why did you think something was wrong?"

Fiona closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. She shook her head and tried to take a deep breath, but it came out in a sob.

"I don't know…I guess I'm just waiting for the day when he…" her voice trailed off and she slowly started to pull herself back, opening her eyes to look down at their joined hands. "Everything today feels so…hopeless…"

"Oh sweetheart," Madeline soothed and squeezed Fiona's hand tighter. "I know exactly how you feel. I went through it too when I was pregnant with Michael."

Fiona lifted her tear filled eyes to Madeline's and moved her free hand to swipe at the stray tear that had escaped to roll down her face.

"I…hate this," she breathed, her voice catching angrily as she spoke. "This isn't…me. I don't do this…"

"You're pregnant, of course you do this," Madeline told her with a smile. "I cried over everything, it drove Frank nuts."

"I should be happy he's coming home…" Fiona's eyes misted again as she pressed her hand over her stomach. "But…all I can think of is…when he has to leave again…he's already missed so much…"

"I know sweetheart," Madeline sighed sadly. "When he gets home, you need to talk to him. Tell him how you feel."

"He already knows how I feel," Fiona sat forward and untangled her hand from Madeline's. Swiping at her eyes she slowly stood up and took a deep breath. "I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Okay," Madeline told her worriedly, watching her closely as she left the room. Picking up her phone she dialled Sam's number and sighed heavily when he answered.

When Fiona came out of the bathroom she looked more composed as she made her way into the kitchen to join Madeline.

"Hey," the older woman beamed. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry…" Fiona could feel the heat building in her face as the flush of embarrassment flooded through her. "I guess pregnancy makes me a little on edge."

"Don't you ever be sorry honey," Madeline told her sternly. "You've had a rough deal right from the start with that son of mine, and lord knows he has pulled some—"

"It's not his fault," Fiona sighed, defending the man she loved even though she knew what Madeline said was true. "I knew what I was getting in to, but I…I didn't think it would be this…hard…"

"I know you love him honey," Madeline sighed and came over to stand beside her. "I don't think I've ever seen two people who love each other more than you two. But don't ever let him off the hook so easily."

"I told him to go, I gave him my blessing."

"Did you really have any choice?" Madeline asked softly as she reached out to squeeze Fiona's hand.

"I know this is for us…what he's doing is for us…but…" Fiona's voice drifted off as she struggled to quieten her own insecurities.

"You're worried he won't want to come back," Madeline told her with a knowing smile.

"Yes," Fiona looked up at her quickly, eyeing the older woman with a newfound admiration.

"I went through it myself honey. I know how it feels to be alone and cut off from your family…" Madeline rubbed her arm as she spoke. "I know you can't tell your mother about the baby…and that has got to hurt."

"They can't know," Fiona pressed her palm against her stomach and soothed the tiny life that kicked against her palm. "It's not—"

Both women jumped when the front door opened and Sam came walking through. His hair was sticking up in different directions and he looked like he'd practically run all the way.

"Okay, the cavalries here…" he declared as he came sauntering into the room.

"Sam," Fiona tried to be serious but she couldn't help the small giggle coming out of her mouth when he turned to face her.

"Hey sister, I came charging over here for you…don't look at me like that…" his face twisted when she gave him a look that could only be described as adoring. "Now this is getting plain freaky."

"Thank you Sam," Fiona told him with a smile as she left Madeline's side to walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder. "So what's the plan on our job? Do I get to blow things up this time? I'm feeling a little…destructive…"

"I can handle it—" Sam started, intent on telling her to stay away from the job but she cut him off mid sentence.

"Stop treating me like an invalid. I can still work. I'm not some china doll that's going to break apart before your eyes. I'm a Glenanne, and we don't break." Taking a deep breath she watched his face switch to concern when he looked at her and almost instantly felt the fight seep out of her.

"He's fine, you know. No need to get antsy," Sam told her, keeping his voice low as he spoke. "He's okay."

"How do we know that?" Fiona asked, hoping he didn't hear the catch in her voice. "He tells us what he wants us to know. One day he could be dead in a ditch somewhere and none of us would know…"

"Fi—"

"No," she stepped away from him before he could touch her and held up her hand. "I don't want to hear any more…I just…I need to work. I'll meet you out front."

Tears sprang to her eyes again but she hurried away from him and out of the door before he could see her lose it again.

Sam turned worried eyes onto Madeline, seeing the same concern etched in hers. "I sure hope Mikey ends this jaunt of his soon."

"Me too Sam," Madeline sighed as she reached for her packet of cigarettes. "He has a lot of catching up to do."

000

Sam looked sideways towards the silent woman sitting beside him in the car. Her stillness was unnerving him a little and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I just wanna go over the plan one more time, just to be sure," Sam told her, his eyes alternating between Fiona and the house they were surveilling. "The guy shows up and we—"

"We put a gun in his face and tell him to leave town. If he doesn't then I blow up his car and if he's lucky I'll shoot him too."

"Fi—"

"Shut up Sam. I'm doing this and you're not going to stop me." Turning determined eyes onto the man beside her she dared him to speak. When he put his hands in the air in defeat she nodded silently and lifted the small binoculars to her eyes, watching over the house across the street.

"You know, I could have handled this," Sam huffed and reached for the snacks they'd brought with them.

"The only thing that's changed is this," she told him determinedly as she gestured towards her rounded stomach. "I can still do my job."

"No one is saying you can't do your job, Fi," he sighed, taking the binoculars off of her before she could argue with him.

Fiona shot him an angry glare and sat up in her seat. Nudging Sam's arm she pointed towards the car that had pulled up outside their client's house. "Looks like he didn't take you seriously Sam," she told him with a hint of a smile as she held up a detonator in her hand. "Just as well I brought this along."

"Fi…what did you do?" Sam asked worriedly, already reaching for the door handle to push it open.

"That man threatened to hurt his son to spite his ex wife. I'm going to show him what it's like to be threatened, especially by a woman." Before Sam could get out of the car she held the detonator and pushed the button, her eyes widening in a satisfied smile when the car in front of the ex husband's burst into flames, sending swirling fire and smoke into the air. The sleazy ex husband dived to the floor with his hands over his head.

Sam stared at her in awe before a proud smile spread across his face. "What say we finish the job?"

"Oo, yes," she grinned as she opened the door and reached for her SIG out of the glove box. She was out of the car before Sam could stop her; marching up to the staggering ex. She punched him clear in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Go near Alice or her son again and I'll shoot you," she warned as he cowered on the floor with his hands in the air.

"I'd listen to her," Sam warned him. "She will shoot you "

"What…what do you want?" he shook as he spoke, his hands still raised in the air. "Do you want money? I have money…"

"That's exactly what you're going to do," Sam told him, taking his phone out of his pocket. "You're going to call your bank and transfer ten thousand grand into this account."

"I don't think—"

Fiona pulled her SIG on him with both hands, pointing it at his cowering form. "Believe me, I would love to shoot you," she growled.

"Okay, okay," he reached for the phone and pressed the numbers with shaking fingers and put the phone to his ear. His eyes went to the paper in Sam's hand as he waited for someone to answer before rattling off the bank account number. "Yes that's right, ten thousand. Yes right away...thank you." Thrusting the phone back into Sam's hands, he gulped heavily. "It's done."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Sam grinned as he stepped back, indicating Fiona to do the same, but she didn't move, her gun still pointing at the man on the floor.

"Fi, time to go," he told her quickly when sirens were sounding in the distance. "Fi we gotta move."

She stepped back and lowered her weapon only to lunge forward and whack the man around the head with the barrel of the gun before stepping away. Turning to Sam she offered him a satisfied smile and headed back towards the car. Not looking back as they drove away, leaving the wreckage behind them.

000

Later that day, Madeline, with the help of Sam persuaded Fiona to go out to the mall as originally planned. The older woman sat on a bench outside the changing room waiting for Fiona to come out. When she hadn't emerged after five minutes she got up and tapped on the side of the door.

"Fi, are you okay in there?"

"No," came a soft reply that was enough for Madeline to push the door open to go into the small room.

What she found almost made her break in two. There was her beautiful 'daughter in law' looking radiant in a loose fitting blouse, but she couldn't seem to fasten the linen pants she'd chosen to go with the outfit.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Fiona turned wild eyes on her and gestured to her growing midsection. "Look…I can't even fit into the next size up…oh god…I'm huge…"

Madeline looked at her with barely contained amusement that only earned a glare from the younger woman.

"It's not funny," she whined miserably as she looked at herself in the mirror. "When Michael gets home all he's going to see is a whale!"

"All he's going to see is you, sweetheart," Madeline told her fondly as she reached out to pull her into a hug.

"But…look at me…"

Madeline took her by the shoulders and turned her so that they were both facing the full length mirror.

"You are beautiful," Madeline told her with an adoring smile. "He'll think so too."

Fiona looked at the older woman's eyes in the reflection staring back at her. "I hope so," she sighed heavily.

Turning her back around to face her, Madeline leaned back to hold onto Fiona's hands. "I know you can't have your family here with you, and I know you can't tell your mother about the baby. But I just want you to know, that you have a family here who loves you."

Fiona's breath caught in her throat. She loved Madeline just as much as her own mother. Tears sprang to her eyes but she hurriedly blinked them away before they could take hold of her.

"Me too," she told her with a shaky smile. "I think I'm going to go to the maternity section. Might as well admit it, right…"

"I think that's a wise decision honey," Madeline told her with a wide smile.

"All I wanted since I found out I was pregnant was to have something to show I was pregnant…now…nothing fits me anymore."

"Well that's kinda what happens honey," Madeline smiled. "You're going to get a lot bigger."

Fiona turned back towards the mirror and smoothed her hand over her growing stomach and sighed wistfully before slipping out of the undersized pants and retuned them to the hanger.

Madeline smiled as she left the changing room and waited patiently for Fiona to come out. She was having a nice time, despite the fact that she hated big shopping outlets. She was just happy that she could distract her for a little while.

Fiona was in mid change when she thought she heard what sounded like two male voices sniggering and whispering close to the adjoining wall. Moving closer, she cast a trained eye over the surface, scanning for anything that would indicate a hole or a hidden camera, until her gaze focused on a small round hole in the corner or the small room.

At first she thought about yelling for the manager and creating merry hell, but then a small satisfying smile came to her face as she pulled on her own jeans and rummaged through her bag for her Taser.

When the changing room door opened, Fiona breezed out and handed Madeline her bag before turning away to head towards the adjoining changing cubicle. She was gone for a few seconds before she returned and linked her arm through Madeline's, pulling her along with her as she beamed a bright smile at her.

"You're looking a lot brighter than you were," Madeline told her suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"Oh nothing any normal girl wouldn't do if she found two spotty faced perves spying on her," she grinned. "I'm starving, let's get something to eat."

000

When Fiona arrived back at the loft later that night, she placed her shopping bags onto the bed and sat down next to them with a heavy sigh. It had been nice spending time with Madeline, but she was exhausted. Looking over towards her new clothes, she couldn't help but smile when she ran her fingers over the dress she was going to wear the next time she went out to dinner.

Standing up from the bed, she took her new clothes out of the bags and splayed them over the mattress with a satisfied smile. Contrary to what she'd thought, maternity clothes weren't as hideous as she'd been lead to believe. She could remember her mother wearing huge big smocks with large bright bows, unflattering in every possible way. She would rather spend her time wearing nothing that wearing those monstrosities.

Picking up her new items, she took them over to the closet and hung them up with great care, letting her fingers trace over the different textures. With a heavy sigh she let the weariness wash over her and turned away to make her way towards the bathroom. It had been an extremely long day and if she was going to be anything for Michael's return, she was going to be fully alert.

Nothing could have prepared her for what had been waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom ten minutes later. She was tying her robe together when she came face to face with the man who had haunted her dreams for so many years.

"Fi," he breathed her name as he threw his bag onto the floor and engulfed her in his arms, holding her tightly against him.

Fiona was in shock. Here he was, standing before her larger than life and all she could do was whisper his name over and over again as she clung into his body. After a few moments, Michael stepped away to gaze down at her with awe. She was looking up at him with wide sparkling eyes.

"But how are you here?" she asked in a whisper when she reached up her hands to stroke his bearded face. "You said tomorrow…"

"I helped someone," he told her cryptically, his voice soothing her aching senses. "He pulled some strings to get me home sooner."

He couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from hers. He had never felt so completely adored in his whole life. Wordlessly he dipped his head again and caught her lips with his own, slowly increasing pressure until her mouth opened beneath his.

Fiona slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders to bury her fingers into his hair. She moulded her body against his, needing to be as close to him as possible. One smouldering kiss followed another, as they touched and caressed, expressing their love for each other with fervent strokes.

His lips left hers to trail soft kisses down her throat, sparking passionate fires everywhere they touched. Fiona angled her head to give him better access and closed her eyes as waves of desire crashed over her body. Her breath seemed to leave her in soft desperate gasps when he changed direction to begin kissing his way back towards her chin, every kiss leaving her in no doubt of his love for her.

"I'm glad to be home," he whispered when he moved to her ear, his breath fanning against her skin when he continued his mantra. "I missed you…I really missed you."

Michael pulled her closer. He loved this woman so much; no words could ever describe it. He was totally lost in her and when her fingers came down and raked over his chest, he knew he would give anything in his power to make her happy. No woman had ever made him feel so utterly desirable, so desperately needed, or so completely loved.

He delighted in the tiny gasps she made when he kissed his way back up her throat. She angled her neck to accommodate him, her soft gasps spurring him onwards until he couldn't bear to be parted from her any longer. He slid his lips up towards her chin placing open mouthed kisses along the way, until his lips met hers again for another scorching kiss. Manoeuvring them backwards, he edged her towards the bed, her body surrendering to him when he gently eased her down onto it.

His mouth left hers briefly so he could lift himself up and look down into her tear filled eyes. Her lips were slightly swollen and her breathing was coming in deep shuddering gasps and he didn't know if there would come a time when he could possibly love her more than he already did. Her emotion filled eyes called out to him and he slowed his movements. Leaning over her he kissed her gently, moving his lips to caress every part of her face before pulling back to gaze down into her eyes.

"I love you so much," he whispered knowing he could never tire of telling her, before dipping his head to kiss her again.

Fiona choked on a sob when his lips met hers and she held on to him before he could pull back to ask her what was wrong. She opened her mouth beneath his, surrendering herself to him in every possible way. Making love with him had always been something so beautiful, and she could never have imagined anyone loving her the way he did. It had never been like this before for her, not with anyone.

Her tears spurred him onwards and he kissed her almost desperately, his need to show her that she was his world making him forget everything else. His lips left hers to leave a trail of kisses over her face, before his eyes found hers again.

"It's been so hard without you," she whispered as tears spilled over onto her cheeks.

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," he told her fiercely, punctuating his promise with a deep drugging kiss that left her in no doubt that he meant it…

000

They laid together in a tangle of limbs. Michael's head was laid on Fiona's chest and his hands caressed her rounded stomach with proud fascination. He couldn't believe how much her body was changing; he'd missed it all. He was just about to shift backwards to look up at her when he felt a small movement beneath his palm.

"Is that?" he asked in awe, his eyes growing wide when the movements followed his hands across her stomach.

"Yes it is what you think it is," she chuckled. "I've grown out of all my clothes."

Michael leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto her stomach before crawling back up her body to lie down beside her.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," he whispered. "I wish I had been here for the sonogram and to watch you expand out of your clothes."

"Well according to your mother, I've got a lot more expanding to do yet." Fiona gazed into his eyes and lifted a hand to stroke his bearded chin. "This is new."

"It was part of my cover," he grinned. "Why, don't you like it?"

"It reminds me of when we were in Germany," she told him as she reached up a finger to run across the scar on his face. "You had a beard the night you left me."

"I'm not leaving this time, Fi," he told her reassuringly. Shifting off of her suddenly he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "I'll shave it off."

"What, now?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, now," he grinned as he reached down for his jeans and pulled them on. Turning back towards her he leant down and place a soft kiss onto her lips before heading towards the bathroom.

tbc