"You have a visitor in your office, Mrs D." The nanny said as I entered the suite. I gritted my teeth.

"Thank you." I forced out politely, irritated. Was fourteen hours not enough work today?

I made my way to my office and opened the door, but no one was there. Maybe they'd left. I dropped my stack of paperwork on my desk and slumped into my seat. A moment of quiet. I closed my eyes.

Breathe in, breathe out.

"Hello, Petra." A quiet, familiar voice came from the corner of the room.

It felt like the world stopped spinning. I had to be hearing things. It couldn't be.

"Milos." I breathed, hardly believing my eyes when I opened them.

He was filthy, dirt and grime covering his body. His clothes were desperately ill fitting, possibly not even his. His face was gaunt, he'd lost weight. One arm was splinted and tied to his side, and there was a long and jagged cut from his forehead, over one eye, to his cheek. It was covered by a makeshift bandage.

"You're alive." I whispered, pushing back my chair and running over to him, throwing my arms around his emaciated frame. "You're alive. You're okay. You came back to me. I've missed you. I thought I'd never see you again."

He wrapped an arm around me, hushing me softly. "It's okay." He murmured. "Don't cry. I'm back."

I hadn't even realized I was crying, but he was right. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I tried to catch my breath. "I found your email last month. I was so sure you were dead. What happened?"

He kissed my forehead as I clutched his loose shirt. He had lost weight, a lot of it, more than he could possibly afford to lose. "Things went badly. But it's done now. Can I bathe? I'd like to see our girls."

Once I was really paying attention to details he seemed almost hallow, like part of his personality was missing. Oh, Milos. What happened to you?

We walked out to the living room, where I stopped the nanny. "Isabel, this is my husband. He's just returned from a business trip. Would you mind staying the night with the girls?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course, Mrs D. I'd love to! Nice to meet you, Mr D." Then she went back to her book.

Milos and I walked to the bathroom, where I filled the bath. "The nanny is all of twenty two. She's incredible, the twins are absolutely in love with her. She has eight siblings. Can you imagine?"

I babbled to fill the silence, watching Milos' face. It moved to portray the correct emotion, but his eyes never lit up. They were dark, still stuck wherever he had been.

Finally the tub was full, and I helped him undress. I removed the bandage over his eye and gasped. The gash was red and clearly infected.

"Milos, you need a doctor. You could lose your eye!"

He nodded. "I left where I was quickly, then I came straight home to you. I'll see a doctor in the morning."

His voice was slightly gruff. I nodded, unbuttoning his shirt. He was covered in cuts, bruises, and dried blood. A few of his ribs were bent at odd angles, and I could only tell because he'd lost so much more weight than I had first thought. He was skeletal.

"Please don't." He said as I was about to touch his chest. He looked anguished. Suddenly it clicked.

"Milos, were you tortured?" I exclaimed quietly. "Why would someone hurt you?"

"I was warned." He answered cryptically. "I didn't listen." He was clearly still far away. He took a slow, deliberate swallow.

I went back to unfastening his splint, bile rising in my throat as I realized most of his fingers on that hand were broken. His forearm was the worst of all, taped to a stick and clearly poorly set after a severe break. I removed his pants and boxers, then pulled off my own clothing.

He let out a slow breath as he watched me undress, his eyes hungrily roaming over my body. "You're even more beautiful than in my mind."

"Did you think of me often?" I asked, stepping into the deep tub and assisting him in.

"Every day." He croaked. Something within him must have cracked for just a moment, because the next thing I knew I was wrapped tightly in his embrace while he shook. Then he took a deep breath and it was gone, as fleeting as its arrival.

"Sit." I said softly, grabbing a washcloth and some soap. Milos nodded, keeping a hand on me at all times.

Slowly I worked, scrubbing the dirt and blood off of him. He was stoic, showing nothing as I washed out his cuts. I kept the water running, filling the tub with fresh water as the murky pink and black water disappeared down the drain. I finished his chest and arms, and moved towards his neck. His hand gripped me tighter as the cloth got near his face.

"I'll do it." He said hoarsely, splashing some water against his face. His eyes remained determinedly open, fixed on the wash cloth.

"Can I wet your hair?" I asked gently. He shook his head side to side emphatically, then splashed more water onto his scalp. I rubbed some shampoo into a lather and gently massaged his hair clean, then let him splash the suds out when I was finished.

I stood and helped him up, then dried him off with a plush towel. "I'm going to bandage your wounds, okay?"

He nodded, his eyelids starting to droop. I put on my robe, then grabbed the peroxide, antibacterial ointment, and bandages. One by one I disinfected and covered the cuts, moving from the small ones to the large ones, bandaging the ones that were still bleeding or weeping. His torso was a kaleidoscope of horrors, covered in yellow, purple, and black bruises. Long, puckered red scars distinguished older torture from newer marks. Finally I finished cleaning and bandaging his eye.

"Do you want to go to bed?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I need to see my daughters."

I nodded, wrapping him in his robe. His hand sought out mine, and we walked down the hall together to the nursery. Isabel was still reading on the living room couch, so we went right in. They were side by side in matching white cribs, quietly breathing. Finally Milos cracked a small smile. A real one.

"Hello, girls. Papa Milos is home." He whispered, staring at them. He looked like he wanted to touch them, but held back. After ten or fifteen minutes of watching them, he turned to leave. "They're beautiful." He whispered to me. "So small."

"They were even smaller." I replied, remembering their birth.

We left the room together, his good hand still firmly clutching mine. A small frown crossed his face as we approached the blue room, his hand tightening on mine. As we entered the room, Milos let out a long breath.

"You sleep here?"

I nodded. "I couldn't seem to sleep without you. Then, when I thought you were-" Dead. "-Gone, I moved in here full time."

He stood before me and gently kissed my forehead. "Thank you." He murmured against my hair. "I am" He thought for a moment. "Glad you'll be here with me. It's been a long time since I last slept."

He looked like he was about to collapse. I helped him out of his robe, removed my own, and laid down in the bed with him. I wrapped myself tightly around him, he inhaled my hair. I reached out and turned out the light, before returning to his warm embrace.

"I'm so afraid I'm going to fall asleep and wake up back there. I'm so afraid this is just a good dream." He whispered, pulling me closer. His arm was like a steel band, holding me to him.

"It's not a dream, Milos. You're home. You're back with me." He nodded weakly, and I watched his eyes finally close as sleep claimed him.

I was awoken several hours later by thrashing next to me. His entire body was convulsing, his arms wildly swinging.

"Milos. Milos!" I called to him, but he couldn't seem to hear me. I flicked the bedside light back on, and his thrashing stopped. "Milos?" I asked again, this time softly.

His face was stricken. "Thank you." He managed, slowly getting his breathing under control. "Nightmare."

This time I left the light on, and we slept until morning.

I woke up still entangled in his arms, sun spilling into the room. I managed to grab my phone off the side table, and immediately started sending emails. One to Rafael, letting him know Milos was back and I'd be working from the suite this week. Another to my assistant, telling her to reschedule my meetings for next week and to hold all calls that weren't urgent. Finally I emailed a concierge doctor to come and look over Milos.

I looked over at the sleeping man next to me. His face was drawn, he was clearly in pain, even in his sleep.

He would be hungry when he woke up. I slowly snuck out of his arms and went to the closet to dress. I picked a pair of sunshine yellow shorts and a pale blue button down with half length sleeves. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, a style I abhorred but was necessitated by the twins. I checked on Milos once more before leaving the room. His breathing was slow and regular, deep asleep.

"There's my babies!" I exclaimed at my daughters, who turned to look at me with adorable matching smiles. "Thank you, Isabel. I'm going to need less day coverage and more night coverage this week. Double rate for overnight, as usual."

She smiled and nodded. "No problem, Mrs D! What are my hours today?"

I thought for a moment. "Can you some back around bedtime tonight? I may need help getting them to sleep."

"Of course!" She gushed in her usual bubbly tone.

She kissed the babies, then grabbed her books and left while I called down to room service for food. The girls looked at me expectantly with her gone. I checked my watch, ten minutes until their next feeding. Suddenly there was a commotion coming from the blue room, yelling.

I rushed in, finding Milos sitting up, head between his hands, looking shaken. "Sorry, you were gone." He explained, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Another nightmare?" I asked, going to sit with him. He nodded weakly. "I have a doctor coming in a couple of hours to look you over. Breakfast should be here soon." A thin wail came from the living room. "I need to feed the babies. Would you like to rest?"

He shook his head no. "I can't sleep. I would like to help you." He still looked shaken, but determined. We went back out to the living room, where Milos stopped short, staring at the girls.

I made two bottles while he sat on the floor, poking the girls' feet. They squealed with laughter, kicking him back. He was smiling at them, a real smile.

"Where did you learn that from?" I asked, handing him one of the bottles.

His smile magnified, his eyes looked far away. "You fell asleep on the couch, and one of these princesses kicked me. Then we played this game. I look forward to playing more now that I can see them."

I blinked away the mistiness in my eyes. Having children made me sappy. "Who do you want to feed?" I asked.

He looked at them. Elsa kicked at him. "Her." He said softly, cradling her neck and lifting her into his arms. "Hello, you." He said tenderly. "I've waited so long to meet you. I'm sorry I missed you being born."

Elsa gurgled, reaching for her bottle. Milos began feeding her as I sat beside him to feed Anna.

"Tell me all about them?" He asked, gazing at them. "I want to know about every second I missed."

I launched into the story, how Jane got me through labor, Rafael missing the birth, having post partum depression, getting help, Elsa's first laugh, firing the team of nannies, hiring Isabel. I told him about their first laughs and their first smiles, Mommy and me classes, the mess that was Mother's Day. Their favorite foods, strawberry apple puree for Anna and blueberry oatmeal puree for Elsa.

I knew we should put them down for bed, but Milos looked so happy holding Elsa. I talked as she fell asleep, talked until there was nothing more to tell him. And for a wonderful moment, Milos of six months ago was back. He smiled and laughed when it was funny, rubbed his knee against mine when it was sad. During the entire saga, though, he was present. One hundred percent, not still trapped wherever he had spent the last six months.

"I'm sorry it was so hard." He said quietly. "I would have done anything to be here with you."

I nodded. "What happened? You just disappeared."

He took a deep breath in and out. "I can't talk about it. I can't go back there yet."

I nodded, shifting Anna so I could rub his back. "You have to talk about it eventually. But that doesn't have to be today."

"Thank you, Petra." The relief in his voice was nearly palpable.

Our eyes met. I could feel the warmth of body pressed against my side. Slowly he lowered his head, and I tilted my face up. Our lips were a few centimeters apart. My heart was crashing in my chest. The suite door swung open.

"You can't just have that guy around our children, Petra. He's a criminal. I thought he was dead?"

Joy. Rafael was here. Milos stiffened. His face become completely neutral, giving nothing away. I stood, careful not to jostle Anna.

"Don't wake the babies." I hissed acerbically. "We can talk after I put them down."

He had the decency to look cowed, at least. I helped Milos up, careful not to put too much pressure on his ribs or bad arm, and brought him with me to the nursery.

"You can put her in that one." I murmured.

He shook his head. "I'd rather hold her. I'll wait in here."

He was uncharacteristically downtrodden. Milos of Prague would have started a fistfight. Milos of six months ago would have wanted to defend himself. But this Milos, he was tired. Too tired to fight, too tired to even protect himself.

"I'll be quick." I promised, gently touching his shoulder while squaring my own.

A little smile appeared on his lips. "That's my wife."

I quietly closed the nursery door behind me, took a deep breath, and rejoined Rafael in the living room.

"Are you really leaving them alone with him?" He demanded, incredulous.

I folded my arms and stared him down. "There's a video monitor right next to you, Raf. What exactly do you think he's going to do with them?"

"Look, the last thing I knew he was your abusive ex boyfriend that had you under surveillance and black mailed you into marrying him. Forgive me for not trusting the guy with my kids."

"He also used that surveillance footage to save me from a homicide charge. He's been through anger management. A lot has changed."

Rafael ran a hand through his hair. "He's a criminal, Petra. Are you really going to give this guy a chance after everything that's happened?"

"He got out of illegal trading and smuggling. I'm not saying we're destined for forever, but I want to see where this goes. Five years apart and he never stopped loving me."

There was a beat of silence between us. For a moment he looked almost guilty.

"I'll be talking to my lawyers." Rafael finally replied.

A wail came from the baby monitor. Then a whispered 'utišit utišit', and the crying stopped. It was quiet for a moment, then I heard a familiar phrase.

"Bylo nebylo..."

"What is he saying to them?" Rafael asked, seeing the small smile I couldn't stop from playing across my face.

"Once upon a time. A fairytale about a magic fish." I replied. "He's not all bad, you know."

He sighed. "But he isn't all good. I just want what's best for our daughters."

I nodded. "I know. I do, too. Look, Milos just got back. He still needs medical attention. Let's talk about this a little later."

"Fine." Rafael agreed. "But, Petra? One thing out of line."

I nodded again. "I know. Don't worry."

I watched the door close behind him, then headed back to the nursery hoping that I was making the right decision.