This was a horrible idea and Barry knew it. Breaking into someone's apartment at 2:35 AM(even if it had once belonged to him as well) through the balcony could get him arrested...again. But he just needed to see his daughter, one glimpse of her, one touch of her small hand. That was all he needed.

He entered as quietly as possible, first using his speed to get onto the balcony itself and then pulling up the metal latch that usually held the doors from opening in the wind. Barry felt something in his stomach drop as even in the darkness of night he could make out the loft that he had called home two years ago. He noticed the change in sofa and carpet in the living room, but those were just the small differences that had taken place. There was an infants play mat next to the coffee table that Iris had adored so much and also small toys scattered amongst the floor. His heart nearly broke as he saw the bottle half empty with milk on the marble counter top. And then he heard crying.

It was coming from upstairs and it was definitely a very young child making the noise. Before he could stop himself Barry began climbing the stairs trying to stay as light on his feet as possible when he heard a creak. One of the wooden floorboards on the steps were loose. Barry stopped, breathing heavily and trying to listen if Iris had heard him, and yet he continued to only hear the crying. So he went on, within seconds he reached the top and he saw the crib a mere few feet away from where he stood. Barry walked closer until he stood right in front of it and looked down at the crying child within.

She looked like the two of them combined. With skin a bit tanner than his and Iris's dark curly hair, and Barry couldn't help but smile as he remembered when he and Iris were both 17 and she convinced him to go to the salon with her as she got her hair chemically straightened. Joe had been so angry at the two of them but eventually he got over it and actually told Iris her hair was beautiful that way. As Barry stared down at their daughter he wondered if one day she'd like to do the same thing.

Another feature Barry saw, this time she took after him were her eyes. They were his eyes. The same as his father. The same hazel eyes that Barry saw every time he looked in the mirror. His daughter had his eyes. He wanted to pick her up, hold her, calm his child from crying. But then he heard someone behind him, and the click of gun.

"Don't you dare touch my baby. Now turn around slowly, with your hands up before I call the police". Barry did what she said, turning to face his wife slowly, but he did so with a sad smile.

"You know I think Joe was wrong" Barry said. "You would've been an amazing cop".

Iris almost dropped the gun in her hands, the same one Joe had given her when they first started fighting all the metahumans. Slowly she clicked the safety on and placed it on the floor next to her, with her mouth still open from shock.

"Barry?" Iris asked in disbelief, but she didn't dare run towards him, waiting to see how he'd react first.

"I wanted...to see her" Barry said his voice shaking. He wanted to hate her, the way he hated everyone else, but he couldn't. The words Cisco had told him echoed in his mind. Iris believed in him the entire time.

And before he knew what he was doing Barry went forward wrapping his arms around Iris. He began sobbing into her shoulder, all the pain he'd felt in the past few years were pouring out of him. He then felt Iris's tight grip engulf him, as she too had been desperate to be with him once more.

"I tried getting you out" she cried into his ear. "Really Barry I did, but no one would believe me".

"It's okay" Barry said although it wasn't. "I'm glad you did" slowly they pulled apart. Barry looked into Iris's deep brown eyes. And then he turned back around and looked at the crib, Nora was still crying.

"How old is she?" Barry asked quietly.

"She just turned a year old, Bar. Just a few weeks ago" Iris told him.

"And I missed it" Barry said, feeling himself falling apart from the inside. "I missed everything".

"Not everything" Iris said as she leaned over the crib and carefully picked up the still crying baby, who instantly calmed down at her mother's touch. "She's got a whole life ahead of her". Iris lifted Nora a little slowly so Barry could hold her.

"Iris-" Barry said, now unsure that he should be able to handle such a pure thing.

"It's okay" Iris said, placing the baby in Barry's open arms. To his surprise his daughter remained quiet and even relaxed more, falling back asleep. He then forgot about everything he'd been thinking about before, pushing the horrible thoughts in his head to the back of his mind, just for this present moment. All he could think about right now was his daughter in his arms.

"Talk to her, Bar" Iris told him.

"Um...ok" Barry said, the last time he was this nervous was at his trial. "Hi. Nora. I know you haven't actually met me until now, but I'm your dad, and I'm not going to leave you. I'm promise" Barry said, not even noticing that his eyes were filled with tears once more. He then walked forward and as carefully as Iris had done, he placed the baby back in her crib. But the moment he did Barry suddenly off again, remembering his current situation.

"See" Iris said. "You're a natural".

"Am I?" Barry asked, standing up straight and walking away from the crib in the direction of the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Iris asked carefully. "Please tell me you're not leaving".

"You actually want me to stay?" Barry asked sarcastically.

"Bar-"

"You said you believed me the whole time, and yet you only came once in the two years I was in that damn place!" Barry couldn't help but yell, which made the baby cry.

"Barry, you don't understand how hard all of this has been on me" Iris said forcing her voice into a whisper, as to not wake up Nora.

"On you?" Barry said, now in the same hushed tone. "I'm the one who was convicted for something I never did!"

"And you were sent to Iron Heights where everyone is looked at like a felon because that's who they are. But I lived in Central City where every place I went I was looked at as the woman who was married to a killer. I stood up for you to everyone. They all pitied me that I wouldn't see the truth, they questioned me why I still kept your last name and our marriage intact. I nearly quit my job because of what the papers were printing about you. And then I got pregnant, and I knew that I had to go on for our baby" Iris said.

"Why didn't you ever come back?" Barry asked.

"Because that made the pain of losing you even worse" Iris told him. "You got a life sentence Barry, minimum. Before Devoe's wife confessed there was no evidence to prove you innocent, Bar. None" Iris said. "But I knew. I knew that just like your dad, people would see that you did nothing wrong".

"And it happened" Barry said though with no real happiness to his voice.

"It did. And I knew you'd come here eventually, to see our daughter" Iris said.

"And now that I came, do you...want me to stay?" Barry asked awkwardly and while part of him wanted her to say yes, the other part couldn't push away the feeling of hurt and neglect that was two years in the making.

Iris stared at him, and he felt like a child for the next words that would come from his mouth, but Barry didn't stop himself. "I just didn't know if after all this time...you still...loved me".

"Bar..." Iris said, stepping right in front of him that they were basically touching. "I never stopped" and for the first time in two years, their lips met.