Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the things you don't recognize! Song credit Hey Monday

I want to thank everyone for understanding my break and especially thank those of you that sent your condolences and prayers for my family; I really appreciated it. However, things do not get easier from here…I am really busy! Not only did I go home last weekend to be with my family, but Easter is this weekend and the following weekend I have a wedding, which means my weeks are full of school work and papers. So I promised I would have this done before I'm done for the year…that gives me until May 7th. I should also warn you that this chapter was really hard to write mostly because I haven't quite gotten back into the groove; hopefully the next chapter will be easier for me to write.

"Homecoming, I'm coming, my sweet mistake

Summer's over, hope it's not too late."

Homecoming

Hunter and I weren't very sure what had happened between Paul and Roxy the last few days while we were in Michigan, but judging by the grin that Paul sported things seemed to be alright. He was even wearing it now, sleeping next to me on the plane back to Washington.

"I didn't think it was possible to smile like that in your sleep." I whispered to Hunter who sat on the other side of me reading a newspaper.

He looked up from the comics as I spoke and peered past me at Paul. Hunter chuckled at the sight of the big bad wolf snoring before his eyes returned to mine.

"I guess that's what happens when someone is truly happy." I remarked a bit sadly.

Hunter made a sound that almost sounded like a low growl and grabbed my hand into his much larger one. I stared down a bit dumbly at our interlaced fingers before I looked up at him in confusion.

"You will be happy, Sadie." He said fiercely.

"I'm happy now, Hunter." I assured him with a little smile. "But I don't think I'll ever be as happy as Paul is right now."

"We'll see about that."

I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but I didn't have much time to contemplate it since Paul woke up and immediately started to freak out.

"What's going on?!"

Everyone around us turned to look at the large man having a mini panic attack with one of the complimentary pillows clutched in his tan arms. I laughed a little before I turned to Paul to calm him down while Hunter dealt with the concerned flight attendant.

"You alright there, buddy?" I asked trying to contain my laugh…it didn't work very well.

"Don't laugh at me."

"Are you blushing?" I peered closer at his face and sure enough his face seemed to be a bit red, which only caused me to laugh more. "Hunter, Paul is blushing!"

"Lower your voice woman!" Paul hissed as Hunter joined in with my laughter.

"It really suits you, ya know?" Hunter teased.

Paul huffed, crossed his arms, and pointedly turned away from the two of us. A few minutes later he was asleep again snoring up a storm that caused more than just a few people to turn and look. Who knew wolves could be so embarrassing?

However, it was my turn to embarrass everyone when I spotted my sister and Seth waiting for us in the airport. I quickly handed off my carryon bag to Hunter and ran towards my sister. Seth spotted me first and pointed me out to Cady before she turned and ran towards me at full force. We collided in a mess of arms and giggles and stood there until the men decided to join us.

"How's my niece?" I asked as I looked down at her still flat belly.

"Niece?" Seth asked incredulously. "That's all boy in there, Sadie."

Cady rolled her eyes and said in a stage whisper, "I just go along with him and assure him it's a boy, but I'm pretty sure it's a girl."

"Well, of course it is." I smiled a bit mischievously, "Hell, it might even be twin girls."

"Identical even!" Cady added with what resembled an evil chuckle.

Although it would be funny to see Seth saddled with identical twin girls I had a feeling that it wouldn't be Cady that had twins. Instead I had a feeling that whenever I settled down and had children I would be the one to have twins, and knowing my luck they would most definitely be identical. Not that twins weren't great, but as a twin myself I knew all of the ups and downs and wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the thought of raising my own.

Seth's face was one of mild horror so I decided to put him at ease, "Don't worry, I'll probably be the one that has twins."

Seth looked relieved at that, but I saw Hunter and Paul exchange looks followed by a joking elbow from Paul into Hunter's side. What was that all about? I didn't have time to think about it much further as Cady grabbed my hand and started to lead me towards the exit, with the guys following behind us with the luggage.

Most of my stuff had been packed into boxes and sent along with Mom's things, so I had only filled one suitcase with everything I would need immediately in the next week before the boxes arrived. At the moment Hunter was pulling that bag behind him, his own duffle bag across one shoulder as well as my carryon.

"Crap, I'm sorry! Here, I can take my bag, Hunter."

I made a grab for my suitcase that he was wheeling behind himself but he deflected my hand and kept a firm grip on the suitcase handle.

"I've got it."

"Well, let me at least take my carryon." I insisted.

"No, I've got it."

"Let the man carry your bags, Sadie." Cady laughed as she grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Hunter and to her side.

* * *

I had been happy to see Hunter and Paul, but when I first caught sight of Grace in Emily's arms I immediately started to cry. Abandoning Paul and Hunter in the car, I threw open the door and ran up to the porch to where Emily stood with Grace in her arms. Emily smiled as I approached and immediately handed Grace over to me as soon as I was close enough to take her into my arms.

"Thanks Emily." I said a bit tearfully.

Emily smiled in return and disappeared into the house to get Grace's stuff. In the mean time I placed a big fat kiss on Grace's cheek and let my eyes rake over her body. She definitely was a little bit heavier than she had been before I left, but I was more concerned with whether or not she recognized me.

"Mama!"

Paul came up behind me then and grabbed the bags from Emily before he turned to me with a smile.

"She remembers me!"

He smiled, "Of course she does; you're her Mom."

I knew our situation was definitely a bit messed up. I was going to be living with two men and their niece who happened to think I was her Mother. How was that supposed to work out when Paul had Roxy and Hunter married in the future? Were Paul and Hunter just going to remain her uncle's or was one of them going to officially become her Father? It was definitely something that needed to be discussed so Grace could lead a somewhat normal life.

The perfect opportunity arose after Grace had been put to bed and I was done unpacking my stuff in the room right next door to Grace's room. The room they had given me wasn't too bad at all and I had the distinct feeling that they had fixed it up with me in mind since it was decorated in my favorite color.

When I came down the stairs the two of them were sitting in the living room watching a game on TV, but when they saw me enter the room Hunter immediately switched it off.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you guys about something."

"Go for it." Paul replied as I took a seat on the couch next to Hunter.

"It's about Grace. Is one of you going to officially adopt her? I only ask because I want her to have a somewhat normal life and having two uncles and some unrelated woman she thinks is her mother is not exactly normal."

Hunter ran a hand through his hair, "We've actually been talking a lot about this."

"I want Hunter to adopt her." Paul said. "We want her to have a normal life too, and since he was her father's brother it only seems right that he steps into the role as her Father."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked as I looked back and forth between the two of them.

Paul nodded, "I'm sure. Besides I can be her awesome Uncle Paul who she tells that her Dad sucks."

The two of them exchanged a smile before I spoke up again, "What about me though? She thinks I'm her Mom."

Paul chuckled, "It's not like it's a horrible thing for her to think, Sadie. Besides, it may be truer than you think."

My brows wrinkled in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?" Paul asked stupidly.

"It means that its time Paul went on patrol." Hunter spoke up with a curious edge to his voice.

Paul sent the two of us a mischievous smile before he stood up and headed towards the door, taking off his shirt in the process. My eyes lingered on his muscled back for only a moment before I turned to look at Hunter curiously. He had a strange look on his face, kind of like he was thinking and angry at the same time.

"You alright?"

"I thought I would go into Seattle tomorrow, would you and Grace like to join me?"

"Yeah of course! It'll be her first trip into the big city; remind me to bring my camera!"

It wasn't until I was lying in bed a few hours later that I started to contemplate why Hunter had asked me to come with him to Seattle. We were friends, that I knew for sure, but was he hinting at something else with his trip? Stupid Paul, thanks to him I now have to deal with a restless and questioning mind when I want nothing more than to just sleep.

* * *

Grace looked absolutely adorable once I had her all dressed and ready for our day in Seattle. It wasn't raining outside and the weather channel had promised only a slight chance of rain, but I still pulled out her daisy covered rain coat. It was so adorable, as was her little skirt, leggings and her long sleeved shirt with a puppy on it.

As for myself I threw on some jeans and a long sleeved shirt, pinned my hair away from my face and put on a little makeup before I headed down the stairs with Grace on my hip where Hunter was waiting for the two of us.

"Do you have your camera?" Hunter asked as he took Grace from my arms and started to strap her into her carrier.

"Yup." I replied as I shoved a few last minute things in the diaper bag.

Once I was sure I had everything that Grace would possibly need I shrugged my own raincoat on, threw the diaper bag and my purse over my shoulder and turned to Hunter with an 'I'm ready' look. His eyes looked me up and down and he smiled before he opened the door and led the way out to his car with Grace in hand.

"So what are we going to do today?"

"It's a surprise."

And it definitely would be a surprise since my knowledge of the city of Seattle was based on from what I had seen in movies and TV. It rained a lot, and there was a huge building with a pointy top called the Space Needle…that was the extent of my knowledge.

One long car ride later with a somewhat fussy baby that was only calmed by me singing some absurd Disney song and we had arrived in Seattle at the Aquarium. I practically squealed in delight when I read the sign and turned to Hunter with a huge smile.

"I love Aquariums!"

"I know, your sister told me." Hunter chuckled before he got out of the car and opened the trunk to get Grace's stroller while I pulled Grace out of the back of the car. Once we had her situated and sucking on a pacifier we headed for the entrance.

The place wasn't too busy since it was a school day, but I knew that as the day went on it would only get busier, just as it had the last time I went to an Aquarium; Shed Aquarium in Chicago to be exact. That day seemed so long ago; Spring Break of our senior year of high school. Initially we had felt sort of lame going to an aquarium with our Mom on our Spring Break, but once we were there we loved every minute of it.

Once our tickets were bought I immediately whipped out my camera and put it on the museum setting while Hunter pushed the stroller alongside me chuckling all the while.

"Quit laughing at me." I said and stuck my tongue out.

"I can't help it; you're like a kid in a candy store."

"That reminds me, we have to go to the gift shop before we leave!"

Many hours later the three of us emerged from the aquarium with very different expressions on our faces. Grace was asleep and clutching her new stuffed otter that we had to buy after seeing her reaction to the otters, Hunter looked harassed but still had a small smile on his face, and I knew I was beaming.

"Do you have anything else planned?" I asked excitedly.

Hunter yawned, "I thought we'd go to dinner before we headed back."

"Sounds good." I replied as I worked on pulling Grace from the stroller without waking her or dislodging her Otter, which I had named Oliver, from her chubby little arms.

He drove us to a little restaurant by the coast that he insisted was a personal favorite of his. Once we stepped inside it was easy to see and smell why. Not only did it smell delicious in the place, but it an authentic nautical feel to it. There was also the very friendly service.

"Your daughter is adorable." Our waitress remarked after she took our drink orders.

Grace stared up at the blonde with wide brown eyes, Oliver the Otter still clutched in her little arms. She really was adorable. Once again I was reminded of the day at the mall with my sister; the day that everyone seemed to think Grace was my daughter despite the obvious differences. This time was different though, with Hunter sitting across from me it was easy to assume that she was my daughter. The blonde waitress turned her attention away from Grace then and I saw her take a look at our left hands.

I didn't want her to get the wrong idea about me so I began to say: "She's n-"

"Thank you." Hunter smiled, effectively cutting me off.

After she walked away I gave Hunter a look, "Now she thinks we had her out of wedlock!"

"Well, what we do is none of her business." He replied calmly as he started to examine his menu. "What's so wrong with her thinking that anyway?"