He hangs up the phone. She looks up at him, from the couch. He moves towards her. He looks at the baby, lying on her lap, asleep, on her couch.

"Time to wake her up."

"Wake her up. Why?"

"Someone is coming over, to see her."

"Who? Who knows about her? Gibbs?"

"Abby is coming."

"Why?"

"Because she wants to meet her."

"You wake her up."

"Why me?"

"She's gotten mad at me enough, for one day."

"You're the one who asked for her pacifier."

"She gave it me."

"She wasn't happy about it. That's why she didn't talk to you, for an hour."

"But whose lap is she sleeping on?"

"That doesn't mean anything."

"You want her to be daddy's little girl."

"Is there something wrong with that?""No I think that it's sweet," she admits.

"You are her mom."

"What's your point?"

"She likes you better."

"I don't think that."

"Her bond with you, was immediate. It's different."

"Maybe."

"I'm ok with that. Are you ok?"

"I am getting there. I am still getting used to the fact that she is here. That we didn't know."

"Don't go there," he insists.

"How could I not know? When have I ever just listened to what I was told, and not questioned it? Why didn't I make sure that what he said was true? If I had... if I had looked for the truth, everything would be different. We wouldn't worry about what's happened, or what may have happened, in her life, because we would know. I gave up, and... I can never forgive myself for that. I never should have given up on her."

"You were hurt. You were healing, and... you didn't know. You couldn't have known. Maybe, you were afraid, because if he lied, then the truth could be worse, than the lie. I can think of a dozen different ways, that would be worse. A dozen ways, that she wouldn't be here, with us, now."

"I want that time back. I don't want her to ever have a memory, without us in it. That... it's not fair. She's going to know, that we weren't always there for her. That we didn't always protect her, and we should have. We should have been there, and we weren't."

"What's really going on?"

"What if she woke up, in the middle of the night, because she had a bad dream, and no one was there, for her. We weren't there for her. She was alone, and... the thought of her, being alone in the world, alone and scared, that is unbearable."

"She wasn't alone. She was never alone."

"Maybe not, but it doesn't change the fact, that she needed us, and we weren't there."

"No, we can't change that, we can't take it back. We just have to be there, for all the other, important times, in her life, that she needs us. Those are the times she's going to remember."

"I hope so."

"I wouldn't take it back, you know," he tells her.

"Take what back?"

"Any of it."

She scrutinizes the look he gives her. She takes a moment to process, and her tone softens.

"None of it? With everything, that you know, you would still do it?"

"Yes."

"This is a mess," she reminds him.

"Maybe. I just know that if I changed any of it, she wouldn't be here."

"I'm still surprised, that you brought her home."

"Why?"

"I didn't expect this kind of reaction from you."

"Because I'm immature?"

"I thought that you would be scared."

"I am scared."

"But you are here."

"The bottom line is, that I always have your back. You didn't put yourself into this situation. I was there too."

"I remember."

"What are you thinking?"

"You don't want to know," she answers.

"Yes I do," he argues.

She nods, and tells him what she's thinking about.

November 11th, 2009

It hit her, as she saw the mother, and her child, walking down the street, past her. It was just a baby, in a stroller, but today it was more than just that. She chokes back the emotions, and sticks to her job. When she gets back to the Navy Yard, to her desk, she notices the calendar. A reminder, of something she had lost.

Something that she never had. Today, was supposed to be a good day. It was supposed to be special, despite everything, today was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. The day that she was really supposed to meet that new life, the one that perished, in the desert. She couldn't even bear to think of the word. It creeps up on her. Baby. Her baby, her child, was due to come into the world today.

She swallows hard, fighting the overwhelming feeling of emptiness, in the pit of her stomach. No one would ever know. It was something that, she never planned on sharing. It was just another thing, that needed to stay buried, in the desert. A ball of paper, whirring past her head, interrupts her train of thought. Her hand flies up, and she catches it, without thinking. She looks up, at her partner, who smiles at her, like a child. She exhales, trying to let it go.

But in the back of her mind, she wonders. What would their baby look like now? Would it have dimples? Brown eyes? Green? Hazel? She looks at her partner, for a moment. He looks at her, with a smile on his face. Would it have his smile?

The knock on the door, interrupts anything he had to say. He makes his way to the door, as she gently nudges the toddler, asleep on her lap. She bends at the waist, kissing Zafirah, on the forehead.

Tony pulls the door open. Abby steps into the apartment. She was the closest thing to an aunt Zafirah would have. She would probably even refer to herself as 'aunt Abby'. No one would mind.