Chapter 14--- This latest cross fiction is up. Hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading and the comments!

Matt sat up straight in his bed at the hotel, the covers gathered around his waist. Remembering that last night they had spent together, he knew that he should have answered her admission of love much better than he had done. He knew the words hadn't come easy for her because she had fought the sexual tension that had existed between them for years off harder than he did. She had kept the boundaries of their relationship more fixed, afraid to jeopardize their long-time friendship by crossing that line that had existed between them.

He had been amazed that she had changed her mind that night and had returned his kiss so eagerly and had done some exploring of her own with her hands, matching him inch by inch in terms of her caresses. After he had asked her one more time if she were sure, she had answered him by unbuttoning her shirt exposing her lacy bra. He had taken one look and had thought he had gone to heaven. Even now when he remembered how it had felt when their bodies had come together, his skin became flushed and deep inside his heart, ached. He saw the pain that he caused her each time he looked into her eyes, even when she hid it with a smile.

C.J. tossed and turned in her sleep, not reliving the night of the explosion but other times that followed. The morning that she sat in the doctor's office waiting for the doctor to come back with the results of her tests. Her doctor had said nothing about her lost weight or her eyes which appeared bruised from lack of sleep. But she had looked at C.J. and with a soft smile had told her that she was pregnant. After she had left, C.J. had sat on the examination table for a while for the news to sink in through her grief. The doctor had returned to give her a list of things she needed to do during her pregnancy and C.J. had stuck to it. She had gone out to his grave in the cemetery the next day to tell him. And then afterward she had made the decision to leave L.A. and start a new life.

She woke up from her slumber and sighed, as she saw that it still remained dark inside of her room. Wrapping the comforter around her, she got up to make herself some more tea. She steeped it and then poured it inside a mug, taking it into her bedroom. Drinking it, she thought about what the future held for herself and her child. When Matt had been killed or so she thought right in front of her, the world she had known had flipped upside down. When she had found out the night they had shared had left her pregnant, she tried to restore some stability to her life. Coming to Cicely had restored her belief that she could forge a life for them both in a community that welcomed her with no questions asked.

And then her child's father had returned from the dead and back into her life.

She finished her tea and lay back on her bed, burying herself with her blankets again. She felt that her dinner with him had gone well. She had been tempted several times to tell him about the baby but some part of her held her back, kept the words from being said. Even though a part of her wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his warm embrace while she slept.

Matt woke up with a start, noticing that a bright shaft of light shone through his window. He got out of bed and headed for the shower. The last round of invoices waited on the table to be finished and faxed to Murray and he hoped to get that out of the way earlier enough in the day so that he could spend more time with C.J. After he got dressed, he put on his thick coat and grabbed his work and headed off to the Brick for breakfast. A crowd of loggers had come in earlier and were just finishing up their morning stacks of pancakes with molasses on top and a side of eggs. Matt sat down and Shelli came to his table.

"You're up bright and early," she said, handing him a worn menu.

He ordered and she jotted it down on a ticket.

"I'll have that ready for you real soon," Shelli said, "The logging crowd is just about ready to head on out of here."

He looked around.

"It's busy like this a lot?"

She nodded.

"This time of year it's the loggers," she said, "In spring, it will be the hunting crowd."

He sipped some coffee.

"Has C.J. been by here yet?"

"She's scheduled to meet with Ed and Maurice a little later," Shelli said, "She's probably getting some more rest this morning."

"Was she really tired last night?"

Shelli shrugged.

"It's still early…early in the morning I mean, she might be feeling tired."

Matt thought to ask something but decided not to, focusing on his coffee mug.

"Is she having a meeting?"

"It's being called by Maurice," Shelli said with a sigh, "He's supposed to be handling the money part while Ed's the artist but Maurice is being Maurice."

"Likes to involve himself in every part of a project?"

"Boy does he ever," Shelli said, "He was like that when I met him. Totally out of control."

Matt's mouth curled up in a smile.

"C.J. can handle him," he said, "She can handle anyone."

"Maurice fancied her when she first arrived," Shelli said, "but I think she told him where to park it."

Matt raised his brows at that. Shelli noticed that.

"Oh they weren't serious or anything like that," she said, "She was obviously heavy into some other guy."

"She's an amazing woman," Matt said, "Any man would be lucky to have someone like her in his life."

Shelli noticed the wistful tone in his voice.

"But you're that guy."

He looked at her, taking in her words. Two months ago that might have been true but now, he didn't feel so certain. He had a lot of ground still to make up with her but at least it appeared he had plenty of time to work on that.

C.J. had rushed out of the cabin and hurried down to the Brick after having overslept that morning. She had fallen back to sleep after drinking her tea and had gotten up later than she usually did. After donning a pair of the jeans that had been donated and wearing a long sweater, she went to meet Ed in the Brick.

Maurice had already arrived and appeared to be trying to sell Ed on some new plan of his and C.J. joined them.

"Now Ed I'm sure that it's not going to be hard to change the ending of your little film," he said, "We need something a little bit more commercial."

C.J. turned to Maurice.

"Says who," she said, "Independent art films are very big now in the industry."

"That might be little lady," Maurice said, "But if we want to draw people in from Anchorage, we'll need to inject some gimmicks."

She shook her head.

"No you don't," she said, "Like I told you before, you put on a good movie and word of mouth will bring people down to Cicely to see it."

"Little lady…"

C.J. shot him a direct look.

"Stop calling me that."

Maurice looked at Ed.

"You sure got yourself a live one here Ed."

Ed shrugged.

"I think she's right," he said, "I think we should do it her way."

The former astronaut looked taken aback.

"Excuse me," he said, "I've got an extensive background in marketing and public relations beginning with being a pioneer with NASA."

"I like what she said."

Maurice shook his head at the two of them.

"It's your film," he said, "but it's my money backing it. I won't edit your movie so don't tell me how to run my side of it."

Ed looked back at C.J.

"He's got a point."

C.J. ran her hand through her hair and leaned back in her seat.

"Okay, but I think you're going to be spending much more money than is needed," she said.

"It's my money missy," he insisted.

She held onto her patience…barely.

"Maurice, I have a name…"

He shook his head.

"No what you have is an attitude," he said, "It's going to take quite a patient man to tame you."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, dryly, closing the notebook, "Ed excuse me."

She got up and turned around to leave, and collided right into Matt who had been standing there. He caught her by placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Easy," he said, "You nearly knocked me over."

"I...I'm sorry."

His hands felt really good where they were and she knew they would other places too, but she had to catch her breath before it got away from her and go get her things.

"Excuse me…"

She started to pull away from him.

"Where you heading off to," he asked.

She looked up at him still a bit harried.

"I'm going with Ed to pick up the sound system from Chris," she said, "then we're going to finish editing some of the footage."

He nodded.

"Sounds like a busy morning…"

She smiled.

"Are you free this afternoon," he asked.

She thought about it.

"I've got to help Dave the cook with some adoption forms he's filling out," she said, "He's got to mail them today."

"What about dinner," he pressed.

She tilted her head.

"You're being persistent today," she noted, "Making up for lost time?"

"C.J…"

She put her hands up.

"No look I'm sorry," she said, "But it's taking some getting used to, to see you again. Not that I'm complaining."

He smiled.

"Just remember that when I pick you up for dinner tonight."

She hesitated.

"Why don't you come to my place," she said, "I've got some leftover venison I can cook up."

Matt loved venison, she knew. It brought him back memories of the time he had spent hunting with his father and uncle when he had been a young boy growing up in southern Texas. She bit her lip as he appeared to think about it…for about two seconds.

"Sure," he said, "I'll bring some wine."

She hedged.

"…Okay," she said, "I could get some beer if you'd rather have that instead."

"No, I think wine's better," he said, "to celebrate this special occasion."

She paused and then nodded.

"Okay I'll see you at seven," she said.

He nodded and then went to pick up his stack of folders to take to Ruth Ann's. C.J. watched him go shaking his head and then took off with Ed.

Later, C.J. sat at the Brick waiting for Dave to finish washing dishes so she could help him with his paperwork. Shelli and Hollings had gone to see Joel to check on the status of her pregnancy now that they were in the homestretch. C.J. caressed her own abdomen wondering what it would be like for her when she was in her final month of pregnancy. Would Matt be there too, she thought and then shook her head for even asking the question. Of course he would be, if he even knew about it. She knew she had to tell him soon but every time she thought about doing that, she felt doubt. Not that he wouldn't embrace the news happily but that he would feel as if he had to put his exciting life on hold for her and their baby. She knew a part of him, a huge part, craved the adventurous life they had carved for themselves when they started the investigative agency in L.A. and then took it up full-time handing off the corporation to Murray. Matt had done that without looking back and although she loved working with him, she knew that now her life had changed. She wanted to raise her child and not worry about his or her father not coming home one night. After that, she had been there, done that, which had given her plenty of empty nights to consider it.

"Still thinking about how you're going to tell him," a feminine voice spoke next to her.

C.J. looked up as Maggie slid into the chair across from her.

"I don't know how you do it," she marveled, "You got a law degree from one of the top Ivy League schools and you ran one of the top Fortune 500 companies and then gave that up to become a private eye."

C.J. smiled at the other woman.

"I can't believe that you found yourself leaving Michigan to come to Alaska and become a successful bush pilot," she said, "That's a rarity for women."

Maggie chuckled.

"I can't believe it either," she said, "My mother's never really come to terms with it or forgiven me. I think that's why she burned my house down."

C.J. frowned.

"I thought it was an accident," she said, "Faulty wiring."

Maggie shrugged.

"Oh that was the official cause according to the fire marshal," she said, "but I know my mother."

C.J. looked at her hands.

"I never really knew mine."

Maggie raised her brows at her.

"She died when you were young?"

C.J. nodded.

"In a car accident with my father," she said, "I was at my grandmother's waiting for them to pick me up."

"That must have been very painful."

"For a long time it was," she said, "but I grew to love Texas and that's where I met Matt."

Maggie picked up the affection in C.J.'s voice.

"You love him."

C.J. looked up at her startled at first and then nodded.

"Yeah I do," she said, "I told him so."

"How did he handle it?"

"He said he'd be back."

Matt faxed the last of his papers and picking up his coat, he took everything up to where Ruth sat behind the counter in her store.

"How much do I owe you," he asked.

She told him and he handed her his credit card.

"So how is the work going," she said, "I imagine the scenery's much prettier here than in a large city."

Matt nodded.

"This is beautiful country," he agreed, "They say this is the last frontier in our country."

"It will stay that way in my lifetime," Ruth-Ann said, "if we can just rein in Maurice when he gets one of his grandiose ideas to bring strip malls to Cicely."

"It's fine just the way it is," Matt said, "You'd have to be a fool not to see that."

Ruth-Ann laughed.

"That's what I keep telling Maurice," she said, "but he doesn't listen to women much."

"C.J. handled him well this morning."

"She usually does," Ruth-Ann said, "She's a very intelligent woman who knows how to handle herself."

"Sometimes she doesn't want anyone to help her," he said, "even when she needs it."

Ruth-Ann looked at him.

"Like now," she said, "I think she has to get used to seeing you around again."

"That's what she said."

"Matt, this has got to be a big adjustment for her," she said, "Now it's in a good way but she needs to trust that you'll be there for her when she needs you."

"She knows I'd never…," he said, "But I did leave her."

"She thought you were dead," Ruth-Ann said, "It must have been a shock just seeing you again, never mind all the questions."

"She had plenty of those."

"What are your plans," Ruth Ann said.

"To get back into my life," Matt said, "and C.J.'s a huge part of that."

"Does she know that?"

Matt thought about that for a moment.

"I think so," he said, "I think she just has trouble believing it."

Dave and C.J. spent nearly two hours reviewing the required paperwork for him to adopt his nephew. They had just finished when Joel walked up to the table.

"So you're really going through with it," he asked.

Dave looked him over and nodded.

"It's the right thing to do."

"And your family is cool with it," Joel said.

"He's spent the past year living with us," Dave explained, "This is to make it official with the state. He will always be part of our family."

Joel nodded approvingly.

"That's…good," he said, "How's his asthma?"

"The medicine's helped."

C.J. smiled at Dave.

"I guess we're finished here," she said, "I've got to head on back to the cabin. I've got a dinner guest."

Joel examined her curiously.

"You've invited him over for dinner to tell him?"

C.J. looked at her hands.

"If the time's right," she said, "when he's sitting down."

Joel narrowed his eyes.

"If you don't tell him soon, you'll be able to show him instead."

C.J. knew that soon enough her pregnancy would be more visible including to Matt.

"I want to be sure he's come back for the right reasons."

Dave and Joel looked at each other.

"He's come back from the dead," Joel said, "Some might say that shows some serious commitment to a woman."

"He might miss what he's given up."

"He'll be too busy with his child," Joel said, "to miss it very much."

C.J. thought about that as she stood in the kitchen preparing the venison. She had changed out of her clothes into a wool dress and had stood in front of the mirror including in profile before shaking her head and realizing that at least for now she looked like she always had. Well except for increasing a cup size on top which she flattered with a new bra she had picked up on the way home.

She had just been ready to take the venison out of the oven and the roasted potatoes off of the stove when she heard knocking on her door. She opened it and saw Matt on the front step holding a bottle of wine which she took into the kitchen. He looked her over in her dress and his brows knit. Something about the woman he had known most of his life appeared different but he couldn't figure out what. She watched him watching her and then broke into a smile and reached out her hand to lead him into the living room.

Then she stood there trying to figure out what to do or say next.