"So how exactly do you propose we do this whole 'running away' thing?" I asked Michael as he finished wiping Grayson's oatmeal smeared face off.

He nuzzled Grayson's belly, gaining a loud giggle in response, before setting him gently on the ground. Grayson toddled quickly off to his room, to play with his cars no doubt.

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, placing the oatmeal bowl in the sink.

I rolled my eyes, "How is this supposed to happen? Do you really think we can just prance outside, climb into my car and ride off into the sunset?"

He turned to me and crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course I don't think that. I'm not stupid, Abbie." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "I have a rental car stored at the parking garage you met me in. You'll take your car and meet me somewhere out of town and we will leave together."

"Why can't we take mine?" I asked.

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Do you honestly think you're not being tracked? I don't know if you're important enough to them to have a guard on you, but I'm pretty sure they at least put a tracker on your car."

"You're the geek here, can't you just remove it?"

"Of course I can. But that would tip them off immediately. I would rather it take them awhile to realize you're missing so that we have a head start. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before they find out about the rental car, but by then we should be far enough away that acquiring another one will be fool-proof."

I turned around and coughed, trying to cover a snort. "You should know by now that nothing in our lives is fool-proof."

His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me towards him. "We'll manage." The words were whispered softly.

I finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes while Michael got Grayson dressed. There really wasn't a point in cleaning since we were going to be leaving everything behind, but the quiet routine kept my mind off of other things.

Lincoln called as I was packing as much as possible into an old duffel bag. Michael told me to pack lightly and most of the space in my bag was going towards Grayson's baby items that I couldn't bear to leave behind.

"Is there a reason you hung up without even saying goodbye last night, Abigail?" he demanded as soon as I answered. "You made me a nervous wreck all night thinking something had happened to you."

"Sorry, I had to do something. How's LJ?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

A breathy sigh was my response. "Your subject changes are infamous. But to answer your question, he's fine. Worried about you, of course. I told him as soon as everything has settled down that he could be in charge of sending for you. You know you could always just come right now." His tone was teasing, he knew I would never agree to that.

"I wish I could see you right now." I frowned. "You're staying safe, right?"

He laughed, "Aren't I always?"

"Not funny." I replied.

"Hey now baby girl. Don't worry about me. We are doing great and staying out of trouble. If Mike would get a hold of me, I would be at about ninety percent. When you get that stick out of your ass and meet us, all would be right in my world."

I laughed, Lincoln always knew how to make a serious situation into a joke. "I miss you Linc. You know that."

"Of course. I miss you, too. You, LJ and Michael are all I have. I wish I had all three of you hear with me right now." He paused. "I better get off here, there's a line forming behind me and I don't want to be very noticeable. I'll try to call you tonight, okay? I love you Abbie."

My eyes teared up, "I love you, too. Be safe." I rubbed my eyes as hard as I could when I hung up the phone. That would be the last time I would talk to him for a while, which worried me. I knew how upset he would be when I didn't answer tonight.

Michael's arms wrapped around me and turned me towards his chest, "Don't cry sweetheart." He murmured into my hair. "They're fine, they're safe. We're the ones who need all they help they can get right now." His hand rubbed soothing circles on my back as he gently held me in his arms. "What time were you supposed to be at work today?"

"Two." I managed to choke out.

"It's almost ten now, so lets just spend the last few hours at home together with no worries, okay? You go get Grayson and turn a cartoon on and relax while I finish packing anything we'll need."

I lifted my head so that I could look at him. "Am I going to work my shift?"

He softly wiped away the tears on my cheeks before answering, "No, you're going to pretend to head to work and meet me out of town. If you wasn't supposed to be home until tonight, we have all afternoon to drive before they get worried about where you're at."

I swallowed, "But what about the baby?"

"He's going to go with me. If someone is watching the house, they might get suspicious if you leave for work with him. We'll sneak out the back door with all the bags and head towards the car." He smiled. "We can have a little bit of me and him time so he gets more comfortable with me, too."

His smile was so excited that it burned away some of the sadness I was feeling.

"I think he's as comfortable as he could possibly get with you, Mike. You've played with him, fed him, put him to bed, everything that I do for him, he lets you do." I frowned. "You've been a father to him."

Tilting my chin up with his thumb he asked, "Does that upset you?"

"No, of course not!" His crumpled face had hurt me. "It's just that I don't want him to be confused, if you know, Lincoln is his daddy. Would you want someone else to claim ownership of your child before you had a chance to?"

"You do know that regardless of what a test says that I will treat him as if I was his real dad right?"

I reached up and cupped his face, his eyes were earnestly staring into mine, "I know that. I just want to find out before we assume anything. Grayson deserves to know who his daddy is and Lincoln has to know the truth."

He nodded, backing up a little. "I'm going to start bagging up some food for the road. The less stops the better. Go spend some time with Grayson and I'll be in there in a little bit okay?" I nodded and he kissed me gently on the forehead.

I let Grayson pick what we watched on TV, of course he picked Sesame Street. He had a big Elmo fetish as did most toddlers. We were halfway through the show when Michael came into the living room and sat down beside me. Grayson gave him a big grin before turning his attention back to Big Bird on the screen.

"All done?" I whispered, so I would not disturb Grayson.

He nodded and wrapped his arm around me. "I packed as much dry food as possible so that it won't go bad. We can always grab other stuff as we get gas along the way."

His fingers were absentmindedly playing with a few strands up my hair. "What's wrong baby?"

A large sigh was my response. "Just thinking. Don't worry about it. Listen, I'm going to go lay down and sleep for a couple hours, okay? I don't want to be to tired on the road. Wake me up about thirty minutes before you usually leave." He didn't wait for my response and quickly got up and walked away.

I blinked back a tear, wondering what was wrong with him.

Grayson and I spent the rest of the morning watching TV and playing with his toys in his room. Michael had shut the bedroom door so I couldn't look in on him and make sure he was okay.

I fixed Grayson his last lunch at the only home he had ever known. I made his favorite of fish sticks, crackers and strawberry yogurt. I set a plate in the oven for Michael since I was sure he would be hungry when he woke up. I was too nervous to eat, so I just picked at mine. Grayson gulped his down, only barely swallowing so I let him have what was left of my plate.

When we were done, I washed the dishes. What for I don't know, but I wanted my son's last day here to be as normal as possible and if washing the dishes helped calm me, then all the better.

At a little after one, I decided it was about time to start getting ready for the day. I dressed Grayson in warm clothes and set his coat and boots by the back door since that was where Michael would be leaving from. I told Grayson to stay in his room for a few minutes while I went over to Mrs. Peters house. She would be worried if she showed up to babysit and we wasn't there.

"Well hello dear!" She exclaimed when she opened the door. "Am I late? I thought I wasn't supposed to show up until 1:45?"

"Don't worry, you're not late. I just wanted to ask a little favor of you if that would be alright?" My nerves were jumping. If she turned against me right now, everything would be over for us. All my trust was going into her.

"Anything for you Abigail! You know that. Is Grayson at home?" I nodded. She grabbed her coat and boots and started putting them on. "Let me come to your house then. It's to cold for you to stand out there on my steps and I know you don't want to come in and leave him alone in the house."

I thanked her and helped her down the steps and over into my house.

She slipped her boots off onto my rug and sunk down on my couch. "It's to cold for an old woman like me outside."

"Do you want me to make you some coffee? Or hot chocolate?" I asked.

Waving me away, she wriggled her toes and rubbed her hands together. "I'm just being overly dramatic, don't worry about me." She patted the seat next to her. "Now tell me what's going on with you."

Biting my lip, I considered just how much I should tell her. "I'm going to ask something of you and I know that it won't make much sense right now, but I promise to explain it all to you one day." I hesitated. "Grayson and I are leaving."

She grabbed my hand, "What? For good?" I nodded, closing my eyes. "Where are you going? Are you in some sort of trouble? What can I do to help?"

Shaking my head, I patted her hand. "We're not in trouble, but a friend of mine is." I let out a small smile in the direction of my bedroom. "A very close friend. And he needs our help."

Mrs. Peters waved my explanation away. "As long as you keep that little angel safe, I don't need to know anymore. Just tell me what it is that you need."
I exhaled a long, much-needed sigh of relief. "I need you to stay here today and pretend that you're baby-sitting even though we won't be here."

She sat up and shrugged off her coat. "Well I guess I should make myself comfortable then, eh?"

Leaning over, I hugged her tight to me. "Thank you so much. You will never know how much this means to me."

"Abigail, you are a great person and an even better mother. I know that whatever is going on, you will do what's right." She smiled at me and grabbed the remote. "Now go away, I'm missing my soap."

I laughed and stood up. I told Grayson it was okay to come out of his room and that Mrs. Peters was here to say goodbye to him before I woke Michael up.

Standing in front of my bedroom door, I took a deep breath before opening it. Michael lay on his stomach in the middle of the bed, clad only in his jeans. The tattoos I saw spread across his back and arms still took my breath away. I gingerly sat down beside him and watched him sleep for a few minutes. His eyes were shut tight and his fists were clenched in the bed sheet. Whatever he was thinking about was not happy thoughts.

I rubbed my hand over his short hair. "Michael," I whispered, not wanting to startle him awake. "Mike, baby, wake up."

His eyelids fluttered for a moment before they slowly opened. "Hey." His voice was thick with sleep.

"Feel any better?" I asked, rubbing my hand down his arm.

He groaned and stretched before answering. I turned my head away so that I didn't have to see the way his back rippled.

"What time is it?" He asked sleepily.

"About twenty till two. Do you want me to put my uniform for work on?"

He nodded. "Go ahead and head into work while I get Grayson and the car ready to go. I will call you with an emergency in about an hour, that way no one gets suspicious when you don't show up."

I bit my lip and turned away.

"What's the matter?" He asked, sitting up to lay his head on my shoulder.

I breathed him in before answering. "I'm just worried, nervous, scared… If we get caught Michael, I would lose Grayson over this." I closed my eyes before the tears could come.

"Hey," he whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist. "It's all going to work out, I promise. I've been without you for to long, I won't let anything keep us apart again." He cupped my face in his hands and kissed my lips softly. "You know I would do anything to protect you, right?" I nodded. "I would give my own life for yours, Abbie. And nothing, NOTHING, will separate us from Grayson."

"Why were you so cold to us earlier?" I asked, not quite sure I wanted to know the answer.

He sighed again, "You have enough to worry about right now. Don't worry about anything else."
I narrowed my eyes and was prepared to retort when he stood up and headed towards the door.

"Michael, wait!" I exclaimed. He froze and gave me a panicked look. "I forgot to tell you something." I hurriedly closed the door and stood against it so he couldn't dart out. "Mrs. Peters, the woman who baby-sits Grayson is here."

"God, Abbie! Why did-"

"Just hear me out, Mike." I interrupted him. "I've already explained some of the situation to her and she is okay with it. Don't you think it will look suspicious if I leave for work and no one's here to watch my son? She had to come over to make it look normal."

His posture relaxed. Some.

"And did you tell her about me?"

"I told her that someone close to me needed my help." I pressed my hand over his heart. "Someone important to me. She said that was all she needed to know. She's a good woman and wouldn't rat us out for anything."

His hand closed around mine. "If you trust her, I trust her." He dipped his head down to mine. Before his lips could make contact, I pushed him away.

"I have to be at work in ten minutes, Mike. If you start that, I can guarantee I will be late." He raised his hands and backed away, smirking.

"It's a nice change from you pretending that I have no effect on you." He stated, remembering our relationships beginnings.

Flashback

BEEP

"I've wanted this for so long." He mumbled against my lips. "You have no idea how good you taste." His hand snaked possessively up my back.

"M-Michael," It was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate with his body pressed so tight against mine. The addition of his roaming hands and overly friendly mouth was enough to drive a person mad.

I tried again, "Michael!"

He paid me no attention, continuing to kiss and touch every part of me he could.

I let him continue for awhile, but then I heard it again.

BEEP

"Hey!" I managed to push him off of me. "Geez, Mike."

His breathing was ragged, his pupils dilated. "Problem?" He gasped out.

"My phone is beeping." I jumped off the bed in search of it, finding it under the coffee table. It showed I had a new voicemail.

Hey babe, it's me. I got off work early and came home to surprise you. Where are you at? Call me as soon as you get this."

"Who was it?" Michael asked, fixing his shirt.

"Lincoln," I sighed. "He's looking for me." I started gathering up my shoes and jacket.

Michael pulled a shoe out of my hand. "Now, now. Where do you think you're going?" He grabbed my hips and yanked me back towards him.

"Come on Mike, don't be stupid. I have to go." I pushed him away again.

I saw his eyes flash and he clenched his fists. "So you're choosing him over me, is that it?"

Rolling my eyes, I picked my shoe back up. "Of course I'm going home to Lincoln. He's my boyfriend. That's my home. This is my life Mike."

There was a slight tic in his jaw. "You can't tell me that this is what you want."

"Does anybody ever really want to cheat on their boyfriend?"

He sighed and sat down on the couch. "That's not what I meant. Do you really want to leave me?" A hand raised to my face and trailed down my neck and over my collarbone. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, making my eyes lock on them. A movement he no doubt caught by the smirk on his face.

"Abbie," He murmured, grabbing my hand and bringing it up to his mouth. He kissed each of my knuckles before opening my fist and placing one last soft kiss on my palm. "I don't want you to leave yet."

I closed my eyes and pulled my hand away. "I have to."

He let out one last try. "Please don't leave me. Not to go home to Lincoln. Tell me what I can do to convince you to stay with me."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Goodbye Michael."

End Flashback

I watched Michael pull his shirt over his head. I handed him an old hoodie from my closet to help cover his tattoos. Mrs. Peters was understanding, but I knew the woman could only take so much.

"Ready?" I asked.

He smiled at me, "Ready."