A/N: WOW. This is my longest chapter to date. Enjoy!

Ch. 19: Hi Linc

Sara walked through the halls of Miami Pres in a daze. Tonight was the night. She couldn't believe that she agreed to this, but she partially knew that it was only because Lincoln had convinced her it would be good for her. Tonight, she was going out. On a date. With John. The same man she had sworn she despised just a few months ago. The same man who once represented everything she despised in people. The same man she believed was a pompous ass. But also the same man who had proven her wrong. The same man she had learned knew pain just as much as she did. The same man who had allowed her to go on and on about the love she lost. The same man who had proven to not be as big of a jerk as she thought after all.

She felt a slew of emotions. She wanted to go on a date with John, at least she thought she wanted to. But she also was terrified. She was still 100%, absolutely, without a doubt, head-over-heels in love with her husband and frankly she didn't know if there would be a day that she wasn't. The fact of the matter is that she was only going on this date to please Lincoln who insisted that she deserved to be happy. Nonetheless, she was a bundle of nerves and she was nowhere near ready to re-enter the dating scene. Maybe it would be better if she just cancelled.

Sara's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her cell ringing. Normally she would keep it in her locker, but she left Mikey at home with Sophia with a slight fever. She kept her phone on her in case anything happened to him while she was on call.

"Hello?" she greeted.

"Hi Dr. Scofield. It's Stacy," the young girl greeted.

"How many times have I told you to call me Sara? Hi Stacy. What's going on?" Sara scolded her babysitter.

"I am so sorry, but I won't be able to look after Michael tonight. I have the flu and don't want to risk getting him sick too. I am so sorry. I know you had big plans for tonight, so I called around and tried to find you a new sitter, but came up empty handed. I am incredible sorry Dr. Scof- I mean Sara," Stacy breathed out in a huff.

"Stacy don't worry about it. I hope you feel better," Sara returned to the frantic girl.

"Thank you. Sorry again."

"No sweat. See you soon," Sara finished before hanging up.

Maybe it was a sign from the universe that this date was a bad idea after all. After ending the call with Stacy and realizing she had to cancel her date, Sara somehow felt lighter—less stressed than she had felt all day. She looked at the clock and saw it was nearing 4:30 marking the end of her shift. She wanted to find John to break the news to him in person, rather than over text message. She headed to the break room, where she knew John would probably be. She walked into the room and was satisfied when she saw that the room was empty aside from John sitting in the corner.

"Hey," she greeted when she walked over to him.

John immediately smiled when he saw her standing in front of him.

"Hey back," he greeted. Anyone one with eyes could tell that John was excited for his date with Sara which is what made it that much harder for her to cancel on him.

"Listen, about tonight," Sara started, but was quickly interrupted by an eager John.

"I made our reservation at that little Italian bistro over on the corner of 32nd. It's fairly new, but I've only heard really good things about it. The reservation is for 7, so I'll pick you up around 6:30? I don't think there's a dress code for the bistro so whatever you wear will be fine. Isn't that the type of thing girls want to know? Forgive me. I haven't been out on a real date in a while," John rambled on. Sara really felt for the guy. He genuinely seemed excited. He even had enough excitement to make up for the lack of enthusiasm that Sara had about the date before she found out she had to cancel.

"I'm not going to be able to make it," Sara said trying to let him down easy.

"What? I thought tonight you weren't on call," John said, confused.

"I was. I mean I am. But my sitter cancelled on me last minute and I cannot find a replacement. I really am sorry. I know how much you were looking forward to this," Sara said sympathetically.

"Man that's a shame. I really was excited about tonight. I was kinda trying to play it cool, but I guess I failed. Maybe another time," John said while getting up to walk away.

"Wait!" Sara called after him. She felt so guilty. Surely she could have tried harder to find a sitter, but she didn't. And she couldn't help feel like her lack of attempt to find a replacement babysitter was directly related to the skepticism she felt about the date from the start.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Sara said feigning enthusiasm. She secretly hoped that he already had plans and wouldn't be able to make it to the Thanksgiving dinner that she was about to invited him to.

"Honestly? Nothing. I was planning on ordering a pizza and renting a movie. My family lives in Seattle and couldn't get away for the holidays," John said hopefully, knowing where this conversation was headed.

"You cannot eat pizza for Thanksgiving dinner!" Sara exclaimed. "How about you come over to my house and celebrate with us. No one should spend Thanksgiving alone."

"Wow. Our first date and I'm already meeting the family," John smirked.

Sara tried her hardest not to cringe and the word "date" and failed to do so.

"You could say that, I guess," Sara said as she feigned a smile.

"Well I am honored. I accept."

Sara gave him her address and told him to be there around two before leaving the break room. Once in the hallway, Sara let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. What had she done? She couldn't believe she had actually just invited practically a stranger to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. She had to talk to Lincoln.

She pulled out her cell as she walked to the locker room to gather her things to go home. She was exhausted. She had started her shift at five this morning so she could go home early to take care of her sick baby. All she wanted to do was go home and see her baby boy.

"Hey sis," Lincoln greeted in typical fashion.

"Linc," Sara greeted in return.

"Uh-oh. That's your distressed voice, what's up?"

"Looks like you and Sophia have one more person to cook for, and I have another place to set at the table," Sara sighed.

Sara was awoken the next morning at eight not by her alarm, but by her eleven month old son sitting on her chest.

"Good morning my love," she said kissing her son's forehead. "How in the world did you get out of your crib? Did you break out like your daddy?"

Instead of responding, her son giggled and said, "Daddy!" For eleven months she had to admit that her baby was a genius. She sat up and got out of bed, carrying Mikey on her hip to the kitchen where she saw Lincoln and Sophia beginning Thanksgiving preparations.

"Ah so there's the source of the crib break," Sara said to Mikey who giggled in response. "Good morning guys. I see we're not wasting any time with Thanksgiving preparations."

"Hey sis," Linc smiled, dropping the spoon he was using to mix the cranberry sauce and walking over to kiss her on the cheek.

"We probably could have started earlier, but you weren't the only one who had a last minute invite to Thanksgiving with the Scofield/Burrow's families," Sophia called from the kitchen.

Sara followed the voice into the kitchen, and looked at Sophia with a confused expression on her face. "What exactly do you mean, future sister of mine?"

"Well now not only will your date be joining us, but also Fernando, Maricruz, and Lila will be joining us as well. I saw Sucre at the coffee shop yesterday and invited him to join us. I hope you don't mind," Sophia said, feeling somewhat guilty for inviting more people to a house that wasn't hers.

"Oh please Sophia," Sara scolded. "The more the merrier, you know that. Plus, Sucre is practically family. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sophia seemed to noticeably relax which eased Sara's state of mind.

"Well do you guys mind watching Mikey for twenty minutes while I grab a quick shower and change?" Sara asked knowing Sophia would jump at the opportunity to hang out with her favorite and only nephew.

"Of course!" Sophia said eagerly walking over to take Mikey from Sara's arms. "It's the least I can do after inviting people to Thanksgiving without asking first," she joked.

"Thanks," Sara laughed before heading to the shower.

"Well little man what do you want to do this morning? Can I get you something for breakfast?" Sophia asked Mikey not expecting an answer. He instead clapped his hands in response and kissed her on her cheek.

"So So," Mikey acknowledged which made Sophia's heart smile. For an eleven month old baby, her almost-nephew sure was smart. She carried him to the kitchen, set him down, and poured cheerios on the tray of his high chair before going back into the kitchen to continue the Thanksgiving preparations.

Thirty minutes later a freshly showered and changed Sara emerged from her bedroom with a smile on her face.

"Where's Linc?" Sara asked.

"He ran to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute groceries," Sophia answered.

"Today is going to be a good day," Sara declared.

"You think so? Why do you say that?" Sophia asked.

"It just is. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays especially when I was a little girl. My mom would always go all out and cook all day to make sure we had enough food to feed the entire neighborhood if need be. I loved helping her cook. Making the stuffing and basting the turkey were always my favorite parts. And ever since I was little I've been looking forward to sharing Thanksgiving with my own family. I guess I never thought it would be without Michael," Sara finished with a wistful smile.

"Oh honey."

"No. I'm not going to ruin today with my silly emotions," she laughed. "I just miss you sometimes, you know? And by sometimes I mean all of the time. I miss him every day. But I am in fact very thankful for the family that I do have here. I love you guys," Sara said hugging Sophia.

"So you're glad we didn't move to Tahiti?" she asked jokingly.

Sara laughed in response before saying, "Yeah you could say that. Anyway, I'm gonna take my little munchkin upstairs to get him dressed and then maybe show him some pictures of his dad and that video that he loves. It's important for him to remember his daddy, especially around the holidays and especially since I'm bringing a strange new man into his life. I'm starting to regret inviting John."

"Why? I thought you liked him?"

"I did, I do. At least I think I do. I don't know we had that first conversation about Michael and about his mom, but ever since then nothing. None of our conversations have been of sustenance. I guess it's just disappointing. Michael left me with some pretty high standards."

"Well that's not necessarily a bad thing. You deserve someone as exceptional as Michael was. But if you weren't sure about John, why'd you invite him today?" Sophia questioned.

Sara paused. Why did she invite John? Was she just leading him on? She wasn't meaning to, but maybe she was.

"Honestly," she began after a beat, "I don't know. After I canceled our date he looked so upset, and I just felt so guilty. I invited him to make up for it, but I really did not think it through. I really don't know how I feel about bringing a stranger into Mikey's life. He'll be so confused."

"Well I guess you better go remind him who his father is," Sophia joked. "Go along. I'll call you when it's time to make the stuffing and the turkey since you said that's your favorite part."

"Thanks Soph. You're the best," Sara said.

She walked over to Mikey's high chair and picked him up.

"Mama," he cooed.

"C'mon baby. Let's go be with daddy."

Before she knew it, the doorbell was ringing. She didn't realize how long she had spent with Mikey in his room looking at old pictures and videos of Michael. Next thing she knew, it was 2:00 and someone was at the door.

"I got it!" she hear Lincoln call from downstairs.

"Well baby, our visitors are here. Let's go see who it is," Sara said picking up Mikey and carrying him downstairs.

"Fernando!" Sara cried. "I'm so glad you guys could make it!" she said making her way over to Sucre, Maricruz, and Lila. Sara then saw that John followed closely behind and waited to be acknowledged.

"Everyone," Sara said calling the attention of her small family. "This is John. John this is Lincoln, my brother, Sophia, his fiancé, Fernando, his wife Maricruz, and their daughter Lila, and my son, Michael."

"Hi everyone. It's nice to meet you," John greeted awkwardly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Please," Sophia chimed in. "Just make yourself at home."

Around 4:30, Sara could tell that Mikey was getting tired and took him to his room for a nap. She then headed back downstairs to help Sophia make the turkey and stuffing. She took off her ring and put it on her necklace, the same way she did when she scrubbed in for surgery.

Soon, everyone was comfortable. The kitchen was filled with funny stories, happy conversation, and warm laughs. Sara was having a great time, as one everyone else invited. However, when she and Lincoln made eye contact, they shared the same thought there was one person missing. Sara's gaze with Lincoln was broken when John walked up to her with a glass of wine.

"So uh, I see that you're not wearing your wedding ring anymore. Does that mean what I think it does?" John asked suggestively.

Before Sara could answer, Lincoln came over.

"Hey sis. Can I steal you away for a minute?" he asked.

"Excuse us," she told John.

"What's up?" she asked Lincoln once they were out of earshot of John.

"What? Oh nothing. I could just tell how uncomfortable you were and thought I would rescue you. What did he do to make you so uncomfortable anyway?"

Sara smiled at that. She was so lucky to have Lincoln in her life. He was her saving grace. He was often the only thing that kept her sane when she felt she was drowning in her grief.

"Well Linc you saved me once again. He actually just asked me if the fact that I wasn't wearing my wedding ring meant anything for him. I was disgusted to say the least."

"Well where is your ring?" Lincoln asked curiously.

"It's around my neck. I took it off to help Sophia with the turkey."

Before Lincoln could respond, they were interrupted by the sound of a doorbell followed by Mikey's cries.

"That must be LJ. You get the baby, I'll get the door. Ready, break," Lincoln told Sara.

Sara made her way upstairs and Lincoln made his way to the door. He opened the door ready to see his son for the first time in months. He couldn't help but be excited.

"LJ," Lincoln said as he opened the door, but was shocked at who was standing in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. Standing before him was his "dead" brother.

"Mike?" he questioned, his voice breaking.

Michael laughed in response.

"Hi Linc," he greeted. "Long time no see."

Lincoln pulled Michael into the biggest hug imaginable. He hugged him and he cried. For the first time in years, Lincoln Burrows cried. And just like the last time he cried, his brother was there to comfort him; something he thought would never be possible again.

A/N: I hope you liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it. Next chapter we'll see the reunion we've all been waiting for. Not to worry though. This story is far from over. I have a couple of things up my sleeve including a few time jumps. Would you prefer if I continued it all in this story? Or would you prefer I start a new story and write it as a sequel? Let me know! Reviews are always welcomed and loved, and as you can see, help me write much faster! XOXO