A/N - I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for your wonderful reviews of this story, signed and unsigned. You all made me very pleased. I'm so happy you enjoyed it. And now...
EPILOGUE
The autumn sun shone brightly through the lace curtains of their bedroom the next morning, gently rousing the sleeping couple.
It was the first true sleep either had enjoyed in months. Slowly blinking their eyes and instantly feeling the beloved presence of their mate pressed close, they sighed simultaneously. Sully smiled and nuzzled the back of Michaela's hair. They both felt such a sense of total relief – as if the very air were cleaner and lighter.
Many tears had been shed the night before. Tears of regret, sorrow, and shame - but of healing and joy as well. Forgiveness had been begged and granted on both sides. Each knew that with the rising of the sun, a new day had begun in their relationship. The hurt from their ordeal had been healed.
"Mornin'," Sully greeted his wife, moving the hand under the covers that had cuddled a womanly part while they slept. It wandered further down her body. She moved to allow him easier access as she turned to give him a sleepy kiss.
"Good morning," she purred, her body instantly responding to his caresses.
"Think we got time for an appetizer before breakfast?" he teased, nudging his lower half closer and allowing her to feel his hunger.
"I don't know," she whispered, gently pressing a kiss to the tiny shaving scab near his chin, his morning stubble tantalizingly scratching her lips. "Our daughter is normally an early riser," she reminded.
"Mmm, so that ain't changed, huh?" he pouted, leaning in again as he was unable to resist those fetching lips.
"Mmm," she responded, quickly giving up her half-hearted resistance. I'll never deny him again...we have so much wasted time to make up...
However, their daughter had other plans. After a mere minute, the amorous couple heard the familiar sound of bare feet hurrying down the hall and they quickly separated, making sure the quilt covered them to their necks just as Katie reached their door and turned the knob.
Spying her beloved father in the bed with her mother, she gasped, "It is true! I was afraid I'd dreamed you were home!" before rushing forward and launching herself in the middle of the big bed between her parents.
Sully laughed and commenced tickling his daughter, eliciting squeals of delighted protest.
"Ahh, well if you don't want more of that, ya better get on back ta your room and get dressed," he warned with a fond grin.
Katie nodded and made to get out of the bed, but stopped and looked back into her father's face. Those blue eyes she loved so much were gazing at her with such love, she wrapped her arms quickly around his neck and gave him a fierce hug. "I love you, Poppy! I'm so glad you're home!"
"Me too, Katie girl. Me, too," he agreed, his eyes meeting those of his beloved.
Then Katie whirled and gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek before scrambling off the bed and out the door.
The interrupted couple watched her go and then looked back at one another.
"I'm glad she didn't wait another minute," Sully quipped, wiggling his eyebrows as Michaela giggled. Yes, that would have been quite...awkward.
"I have a feeling we will need to reinforce the 'knock first' rule with our impetuous daughter," she smirked. "As I certainly do not want her being confronted with such a practical lesson on the joys of physical love."
Pursing his lips, Sully nodded, his eyes twinkling with joy that they would even need such a rule. With a chuckle, they gave one another a quick kiss, along with murmured affirmations of love and a promise to take up where they left off as soon as possible, before slipping out of bed and dressing for the day.
Sully found it extremely difficult to keep his mind – and his hands – off of his alluring wife as she bent to gather clean underthings from the drawer in her bureau. He snaked his arms around her and, grinning like a bride on her honeymoon, she turned sveltely in his embrace.
"Oh, I've missed these arms," she hummed as he hugged her close. "So many nights I've spent wrapped in my own arms, and feeling woefully disappointed."
Sully leaned his head back, pressing her head into the curve of his neck as he enjoyed the feeling of her in his arms again. "At least it was warm weather...I know how cold you get in the bed in winter when the fire dies down durin' the night."
She closed her eyes and pressed a long kiss to the place where his pulse thumped in his neck, luxuriating in breathing in the wonderful, familiar warm scent of his skin. Oh, how she had missed that! "The nights in summer are still cool...if you spend them in the rocking chair," she admitted softly.
Opening his eyes, his lips parted in surprise and he leaned back to look into her eyes, brows furrowed.
Nodding, she leaned up to press her cheek to his, murmuring, "I spent that first night sitting by the window hoping you'd return, thinking, alternating between wanting to yell at you for leaving and wanting to grab you to me in joy when you came back. From then on...I just..." she paused with a tiny shrug. "I've always found it difficult to sleep in our bed without you by my side...keeping me warm...making me feel safe..."
Sully smiled lovingly down into her eyes and nuzzled her closer, her words warming his heart even more than did her body pressed to his. Leaning forward, he admitted in a pseudo whisper, "I'd forgotten how hard and cold the ground is in a lean-to. Don't think I got more'n an hour of sleep a night the whole time I was gone." Meeting her eyes again, he added only half teasing, "You oughtta take a buggy whip to me, you know."
She chuckled softly and shook her head. "No, because I would have to turn around and hand the whip to you, for I was equally guilty. And I can think of much better ways to spend our time together," she added mischievously.
He threw back his head and laughed delightedly. "So can I, Mrs. Sully. So can I."
OOOOOOO
Twenty minutes later, Michaela carefully maneuvered in the kitchen door with a full pail of milk as Sully turned from stacking firewood next to the kitchen hearth, having lit both downstairs fires. He hurried forward and relieved her of her burden, murmuring, "I got this."
"Pa, I can make pancakes, now, just like you like them – I've been practicing!" Katie informed her father as she proceeded to dump ingredients into a bowl and began mixing.
The parents' eyes met over the child's head. Sully raised his eyebrows in question and Michaela shrugged shyly. "I guess...we never stopped hoping..." she admitted softly, thinking of the fact that every day he that was gone, she had mentioned something about him to their daughter, striving to keep his presence active in their lives.
Their eyes held, but before Sully could say anything, Katie asked excitedly, "How many do you want, Papa?'
Without taking his eyes from Michaela's, he grinned and murmured, "I'm so hungry, I could go for a dozen and still want more." Michaela caught her lip between her teeth and blushed slightly at his double entendre.
"Wow!" the little girl exclaimed. "I can't ever eat more than three or I get full as a tick!"
"Katherine Elizabeth," Michaela fussed gently as Sully burst out laughing. "Where did you hear such an expression?"
Katie shrugged unconcernedly as she glanced over her shoulder at her mother. "I don't know, Mama...I think I heard Mr. Lawson say it."
Sully continued to chuckle, mainly at Michaela's shocked expression, but shook his head, wisely staying out of that exchange. He knew his wife would not let an opportunity for a lesson in decorum slip by. He was right.
"Well, young lady, that is not something that a proper young woman should say..." Michaela began.
"Why Mama?" Katie asked innocently, turning from her task to stare at her parent. "Ticks do get full, I've seen 'em, all big and fat and wobbly," she demonstrated, arms out, hands pointed down like claws as she wobbled around in a circle, to the delighted chuckle of her father. She stopped and looked to her mother again, hands on her hips. "It's the truth, and you always say we should always tell the truth," she reasoned.
Sully pressed his lips together, eyebrows high as he murmured, "She's gotcha there."
"Byron Sully, don't encourage her!" Michaela fussed, tossing a dishtowel in her husband's direction. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, albeit good-naturedly, as he continued to chuckle, engaging their daughter in the fun. Smiling fondly at the two loves of her life, Michaela busied herself with other parts of their meal. She was doubly glad that her husband was home, as it seemed their daughter had been seeking out the wrong kind of man for male attention of late.
"Think I'll go do the mornin' chores," Sully announced to the room at large, stepping close to give Michaela a quick kiss. "I love you," he whispered, thinking if he told her a dozen times a day for the rest of his life, it still wouldn't be enough.
She smiled in response, happily radiant. "I love you," she whispered back, thinking those words had never sounded sweeter than when he had said them just then.
"I love you, too, Poppy!" Katie piped up from her place at the table, energetically stirring pancake dough.
Sully chuckled. "Love you too, my pretty Kates," he replied and bent to kiss the top of her head. "You jus' keep gettin' prettier and prettier, ya know that? Before long, I'll be havin' ta make me another baseball bat, ta keep all them boys away," added with a wink.
"Aww Poppy, yuck!" Katie exclaimed with a disgusted grimace. "Boys are mean. They tease me, and pull my hair, and chase me around with garter snakes. And besides," Katie added, grinning up at him as she leaned against his side. "I'm going to stay with you and Mama forever. I'm never getting married."
Sully turned and winked at his wife, the two sharing a knowing grin that their daughter would most certainly change her mind, in due time, and when the right one came along.
As Sully made his way to the door, Katie asked expectantly, "Are you going to take me to school today, Papa?" Her thoughts had strayed to the fact that she would finally be able to give the mean boys in school 'what for', now that her dear Poppy was home again.
"You bet, Katie girl. Today, and every day, from now on," he vowed softly.
"Good!" Katie nodded, pressing her tongue to her top lip as she concentrated on getting the pancake dough just right.
Pausing, Sully turned to take one last look at his two girls who were busy with normal morning routines. It's funny how simple things can mean so much. I wouldn't trade this for all the money in Preston's bank. There's no place in the world I'd rather be...it feels so good to be home, he mused as he reached for his jacket - his favorite, the one with the decorations on the shoulders, which he hadn't worn in over six months. Holding it against his chest for a moment, his lips formed a tiny smile as it occurred to him that Michaela had not moved any of his belongings. It was as if he had only gone on a short trip and she was merely waiting for him to return.
He turned his head and caught her watching him, a small smile on her face showing she knew what he was thinking. She was thinking how she had unconsciously avoided moving his things, as if to do so would have jinxed his return. With an answering smile, he opened the front door, and stepped out onto the porch as he shrugged into the warm buckskin.
Standing there surveying his domain, he realized he was, for the first time in months, aware of the birds singing. A soft breeze rustled the few brightly colored leaves that remained in the trees, and he could hear the far away sound of a bell ringing – the farmer's wife on the land next to theirs, calling her family to breakfast. It seemed he was keenly aware of everything around him, as if he were emerging from a dense fog. Indeed, a suffocating emotional blanket.
The crisp autumn morning air invigorated his nostrils as he sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the wonderful scent of his land and his home as he stretched his arms up over his head. At that moment, he felt on top of the world.
It sure is good to be home. He repeated as he jogged down the steps toward the barn, anxious to complete the chores and get back inside to partake of breakfast with his two ladies.
It was the first day of the rest of their lives, and he intended to make every day, from then on, the very best they could be – and to never take even one of those days for granted.
And he kept that promise.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Harsh words...misunderstandings...we should all make every effort to treat one another with kindness.
No love is strong enough to weather the storms of life without communication.
That's what was so good about Michaela and Sully on the show – they always talked things out.
~~THE END~~
