A/N: Hi everyone! Here's chapter 23 and I am not completely pleased with it, but once again wanted to get an update out to my loyal readers. Enjoy!

Ch. 23: Normal?

Sara woke up to the sun shining through her bedroom window. She had forgotten to close the blinds after her hectic day and passionate night yesterday. She rolled over and saw her shirtless husband lying next to her. Clad in only his boxers with a faint smile dancing across his features, she didn't know if he had ever looked this at ease. As much as she wanted to kiss him awake and spend some much needed time with him, she knew he needed his rest. She silently moved across the room to close the curtains to prevent the sunlight from interrupting his slumber, kissed him lightly on the forehead, and left the room to go retrieve her son from his room. He would be waking up in no time, if he wasn't already awake.

She made her way upstairs to her son's room just as she had done countless times in the past. She opened the door to his nursery and saw that, sure enough, Mikey was already sitting up, alert, and ready to be entertained.

"Ma!" he called out rather loudly. Sara put her finger to her lips as she walked over to turn off the baby monitor to ensure that they would not wake Michael. Of course, being the genius that he is, Mikey understood that his mom meant for him to be quiet and mimicked her motions, putting his tiny finger to his own lips. Sara laughed as she turned around and saw Mikey copying her. She was continuously amazed at the intelligence of her son who was not even a year old yet.

"Good morning, my angel," Sara greeted as she picked Mikey up from his crib and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" she asked.

Of course, Mikey didn't respond. He was smart, but he wasn't that smart.

Sara made her way downstairs with Mikey on her hip. She decided that she would let Michael sleep until she was done making breakfast. He deserved something special, and she happened to know that pancakes were his favorite. Yes, she knew she should probably let him rest, but Sara couldn't help herself. She missed her husband and wanted to be able to spend time with Michael and Mikey before the troops (her family) came storming in ready to hear every last detail of his time away.

Sara brought Mikey's playpen into the kitchen where she could keep a watchful eye on him while she made their breakfast. She put Mikey down and he immediately entertained by the blocks that Lincoln had recently bought for him. He really was his father's son.

Almost an hour later, Michael emerged from the bedroom. He saw his son in his playpen and put his finger to his lips, signaling for Mikey to be quiet. Mikey was almost a professional at understanding these signals by now and of course obliged. Michael walked up behind Sara and put his arms around her waist.

Sara squealed in response as he smacked a kiss to her cheek. Since when was she a squealer. Oh the things her husband could do to her.

"Good morning beautiful," he said softly in her ear.

"Mmm…good morning husband," she returned turning slightly to kiss his lips before returning to the stove in front of her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Making you breakfast," she responded like it was something she had been doing every day since they got married.

"Well that's awfully nice of you. What's on the menu today?" he asked making his way to the counter across from her.

"Pancakes. I remember when we were looking for Scylla that you would always talk about how when you were younger, your mom would make you and Lincoln pancakes. You told me those were your favorite mornings and that Lincoln went on to make them for LJ when they would spend weekends together, so I figured we could carry on that tradition for Mikey," Sara reasoned, but when she looked up from the stove, she saw Michael's face. It was white—whiter than she had ever seen it before, and his eyes were glazed over. A piece of Sara's heart broke. She didn't realize how much damage the Company had truly done to him in his time away.

"Michael?" she called out softly.

No response.

"Michael?" she called again louder than the first time.

Still no response.

Sara dropped the spatula she was using and turned off the stove so she could walk over to wear Michael was standing.

"Michael," she tried again bringing her hands to his face. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong—tell me what happened."

Michael suddenly snapped out the trance that he seemed to have fallen into and removed Sara's hands from his face before kissing each of them tenderly and walking to the other side of the kitchen.

"It's nothing," he said. "So, when do we think those pancakes will be ready? I'm starving," he said, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Don't do that," Sara said sternly.

"Don't do what?" Michael asked turning around to face her.

"Don't shut me out. Don't act like you're okay when you're really drowning inside. I am here for you and I can read you very well. I know you and I know when something is bothering you. But while I can read you like a book, I am not a mind reader. So don't shut me out," she said. By this time she had closed the space that he had so desperately tried to establish between them and took his hands in hers. "So tell me. What is it?"

"It's the pancakes," he conceded quietly, looking at the floor.

"What, you don't like them anymore? That's no big deal. You don't have to eat them," Sara reasoned.

"No," he gently cut her off. "It's…" he started, unable to finish.

"It's what?" she encouraged gently as she pulled his eyes up to meet hers.

"Pancakes…they served them every morning for breakfast while I was…" he trailed off.

"Oh," she responded simply. "Well, we can start a new tradition. I know that pancakes are Lincoln and LJ's thing, but you and Mikey can share something else. We could make waffles, or French toast, or eggs, or-"

"No!" Michael interrupted. "I can't let them win. They've already taken so much. They've taken so much from me, from you, from our family…I can't let them have anything else. I won't give them this. They will not win," he finished, now more determined than ever to live the life that he wanted to life. "I'll be damned if I give them anything else."

Michael walked over to the stove, picked up the spatula, and began to pick up where Sara left off in the pancake cooking department. Sara looked on at her husband in awe. He was easily the strongest person she had ever known. She was appalled at his ability to try his best to put one foot in front of the other every day, no matter the pain of the past.

"Hey," she called out. He looked up from the stove in response and met Sara's smile with one of his own.

"I love you," she said simply.

Michael dropped the spatula and stopped cooking to walk over to Sara and kiss her.

They were interrupted by the sound of the smoke alarms and also by the sound of Mikey's cries.

"You get the baby; I'll deal with the smoke. Ready, break," Michael said.

Sara laughed in response and made her way to her fussy 11 month old son. She knew he was hungry and felt bad for taking so long to get him breakfast.

"I know baby, I'm sorry," she soothed him.

"Daddy!" he cried out, instantly calmed.

"Amazing," Sara said as she handed Mikey to his dad.

"What?" Michael asked, slightly amused.

"When you were…gone…and would Mikey would be a wreck—I mean totally inconsolable—the only thing that would calm him down was that video that you made for me and Lincoln before you tried to break us out. He would be so calmed by your presence, even if you weren't really there. And now," she said in a happier tone. "Now that you're back, it's like you guys have had this bond—this incredible, unbreakable bond—that seems to have existed since the day he was born."

Michael smiled at that thought. He liked to know that even though he couldn't be there, his son knew who he was. His son was never truly without him, and Michael owed it all to Sara. He remained in awe at her strength. He knew how tough it must have been to watch and re-watch his goodbye to her—the final memory that she would have of him. But she put aside her fear and her pain to let her son—their son—know his father. It is because of Sara that Michael and Mikey had an already strong bond, even if they had been introduced to each other less than 24 hours ago.

"Thank you," he said.

"Thank you? For what?" Sara asked confused.

"For being you; for letting Mikey know me even when you thought I wasn't coming back; for creating this foundation for our bond to grow on; it's all because of you. So thank you for everything that you have unknowingly done," Michael finished.

"I love you," Sara said for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

Michael smiled at hearing those words from the very person whom he had craved for the past 18 months.

"I love you too," he said bringing her into his arms. "I'm never going to get tired of hearing that," Michael added chuckling.

"So what did you figure out with the kitchen?" Sara asked as she took Mikey from Michael's arm and put him down in his highchair.

"Yeah, about that…"

"Do we need to call the fire department?" she asked laughing at the guilty-looking expression on Michael's face.

"No, no, nothing like that. But I wouldn't be against opening some windows and maybe going to a restaurant for breakfast. You know, for the goodness and wellbeing of everyone in this room. Plus, Mikey's got young lungs—wouldn't want to contaminate them," Michael reasoned. "Alright up, up, let's go get ready," Michael said, too eager for Sara's liking.

"Freeze!" she called out as Michael was quickly trying to make a break for Mikey's room. Michael stopped in his tracks and turned to face Sara with an innocent smile on his face.

"You seem awfully eager to get out of here mister," Sara said suspiciously.

"What? Nope. Just trying to go get my boy ready for breakfast," Michael responded.

"Oh yeah?" Sara challenged. "Let's just stay here then. I can make some more pancakes and maybe some bacon and-"

"No please!" Michael cried out.

"Ah-ha!" Sara cried out. "You don't like my cooking, still! Even after 18 months away you still don't trust me in the kitchen!"

"It's not that…completely. Linc told me that you've been taking lessons from Sophia and you can make some things that won't give me food poisoning now, but it's my first breakfast out of that hell hole and I would like to spend it eating that is guaranteed to not kill me," Michael said sweetly before kissing Sara on the cheek and whisking Mikey upstairs.

"Hey!" Sara called after him. "This isn't over! You will like my cooking!"

"Be ready in 20 minutes! I love you!" he called back from upstairs. Sara's heart leaped at the sound of her son's laughter mixed in with her husband's filled the usually silent house. It really was good to have him home.

Half an hour later, Michael, Sara, and Mikey were settled in at a table at the local diner placing their breakfast order. Sara smiled at the sight of Michael and Mikey together. She would never get tired of seeing them together. The way Michael could instantly make Mikey's mood better continued to amaze her.

"His first word was Daddy," Sara said.

"What?" Michael asked looking away from the intense game of peek-a-boo he and Mikey were currently taking part in.

"His first word. It was one of those days where I could not calm him. Mikey was upset—I mean like really upset. He'd been crying for hours on end and I thought it would never be over. I remember his face was so red—so beet red, and I didn't know what to do. So I put on the video, and he was instantly soothed. It was like he was mesmerized by you. God that seems like a lifetime ago. Mikey was about 7 or 8 months old, and that's when it happened. When the tears dried and the whimpers stopped, he just watched you. I doubt he understood a word you were saying, but it was like your voice was his lullaby. And that's when it happened. At first I thought I was imagining it because I thought he was still too young to be talking, but he said it again. 'Daddy' and I was amazed."

"Wow," was Michael's only response.

"Wow?"

"I just," Michael paused. "I never realized how much I've missed. I mean sure I knew that I missed plenty of firsts for Mikey, but I never imagined what it would be like to hear all about it. I never knew that I would be able to be here for to know him."

"Well you're here now," Sara said placing a hand on his. "And that's all that matters. You're here now."

Michael squeezed Sara's hand and smiled. He was here now.

"Is this what normal is like?" Sara asked.

Michael laughed and kissed her hands.

"Oh Sara," he said. "I don't think we will ever be normal. But at least we have each other in the insanity that is our lives."

A/N: Well there you have it folks. I hope you semi-enjoyed chapter 23. There will be one or two more chapters in this story, and then I will start on the sequel. Hopefully in the next couple of chapters I can help tie up some loose ends. Leave reviews telling me about things you want to see happen or story lines that need to be tied up. I love the readers' response! Review and let me know you're still out there! XOXO