A/N: I'm sorry for not getting this out sooner. My Beta kinda forgot about me, so I'm on my own from now on. So if something is wrong with my grammar, spelling, or what-not, I'm sorry for that, too.

Before we knew it, Friday was upon us...and the snow was gone.

Rich and I were both slow to get out of bed that morning, neither of us really wanting to get up, let alone fly. I was beginning to feel depressed and worried as soon as I woke up, and I think Rich sensed that.

When we finally got out of bed and dressed in our uniforms, we took our flight bags downstairs to wait by the front door until we were ready to leave.

While we still had time before James had to be woken up, we ate a light breakfast, then went around the house making sure everything that didn't need to be on was turned off and things were put away. Once that stuff was taken care of, I went up to James' room.

James was just starting to wake up when I walked in. I sauntered over to his chest of drawers to get out some clothes for him. Turning back to him, I saw that he was sitting up in bed, yawning, and looking as sleepy as ever.

"Good morning, sweetie," I said, setting his clothes at the foot of his bed.

"Morning, mommy," he replied, rubbing his eyes.

I went over to the window and opened the curtain, letting light into the room.

"Come on. Time to get up and ready to go to Aunt Sharon's," I said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

James nodded, then crawled out of his bed, picking up the clothes I got out for him. He started dressing, needing my help occasionally.

When he was done dressing, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, while I picked up his travel bag (that we packed the night before) and Zeke. After he finished in the bathroom, I took his hand as we went downstairs. I set his bag next to Rich's and mine, then we went into the kitchen to get him some food. Rich was sitting at the table, drinking tea...like the true Englishman he was. James took his seat next to Rich, while I got his breakfast.

After James finished his breakfast (and Rich finished his tea), Rich went to pack up the car. When he came back in the house, I helped James into his coat, then put on my own.

"Ready to go, James?" Rich asked him.

He nodded, then turned to me, lifting up his arms for me to carry him to the car. I picked him up willingly, and held him close to me. Looking over James' shoulder to Rich, I saw him give me a sympathetic grin.

"Where's Zeke?" I asked softly.

"He's in the car," Rich answered, then opened the door for us.

I walked through the door and down the four steps, then waited for Rich to close and lock the door behind us. When he did, he walked up to me, kissed my forehead, then put his hand on my lower back, guiding us to the car.

Rich opened the back door, on the driver's side, so I could put James in his car seat, then he went to get behind the wheel.

When James was strapped in, I handed Zeke to him (who was on the seat beside him), kissed his head, then got out, closing the door. I walked around the car to the passenger's side and got in the front seat, next to Rich.

As Rich backed the car out of the driveway and started driving to Sharon's, I turned to look back at James. He was clutching Zeke to his chest and was starting to nod off...good thing, too; it was about an hour drive to Sharon's house. Turning back around, I sighed staring out in front of the car.

Rich glanced at me briefly, then took my hand in his, as he kept his eyes on the road. I grinned gratefully at him, covering his hand with my left, patting it.

A little more than an hour later, Rich pulled up to Sharon's house. I took an extremely deep breath, then turned to look at Rich, then James, who was still sleeping.

"He'll be fine, Jo. Sharon will take very good care of him, just like he was her own child," Rich said softly, turning off the car, and bringing his hand up to cup my cheek.

"I know. And I love Sharon for doing this for us," I started, closing my eyes against his touch momentarily. "But can you blame me, Rich? After the nightmares and then falling out of bed the other day? Now is not a time when I want to leave him."

"No, I don't blame you. Bloody hell, Jo, I don't want to leave him either, but we have to," Rich said, bringing his other hand up to the other side of my face.

"I know, I know..." I muttered, then feeling my eyes start to burn, I shut them again.

I heard Rich sigh softly, then leaned to rest his forehead against mine. He ran his thumb over my cheek and I could just imagine he was wiping away a tear. Taking his forehead away from mine, his lips gently kissed my cheek, where he removed the tear. I opened my eyes when he took his hands away from my face and hugged him; he hugged me back.

"I told you I might cry," I said in his ear, then pulled back.

Rich grinned, then after another kiss, we got out of the car.

While Rich went to the trunk to get James' bag out, I woke James up to get him out of the car.

"James, we're at Aunt Sharon's. Time to get up and out," I said softly, waking him.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. I took Zeke out of his hands and turned to hand the bear to Rich, who had gotten the bag out of the trunk and was standing next to the door. After unhooking James from his car seat, I picked him up, and took him out of the car, being careful not to hit his (or my) head.

When we were both out of the car, Rich closed the door as James put his head on my shoulder, still trying to wake up. Rich put his hand in between my shoulder blades and we walked up to the door.

A few seconds after Rich knocked on the door, it opened to reveal a smiling Sharon with Cole standing behind her. Any idiot could tell that this woman was the sister to my husband; the similarities between the two were quite obvious.

"Rich. Jo. So good to see you," she said, giving both Rich and I a hug (though that was a little difficult with James in my arms). "And James, of course."

James lifted his head to smile at his aunt. When he caught a glance of Cole behind her, he woke up completely and struggled to get out of my arms to go play. I set him on the ground, and he chased his cousin around the first floor of the house.

"Come in," Sharon said, standing to the side to let us in her house.

Once Rich and I stepped into the house, Sharon closed the door behind us, leaving the cold weather outside. Rich set James' bag and Zeke on a chair near the door.

Sharon walked into the kitchen and we followed her, since she motioned for us to do so. In the kitchen, I saw that Sharon was baking, but what she was baking, I couldn't exactly tell...smelled like brownies, though.

"Would you like something to drink before you head out?" she asked us.

I looked at Rich for a time check since he never really told me what time our flight was.

"Something quick, I suppose," he answered.

Pulling out three teacups, Sharon poured us some tea. The three of us sat around the kitchen table while we drank. Directly in the next room, the sitting room, James and Cole were sitting on the floor playing some sort of game. Sharon started a conversation with Rich, but I wasn't paying attention...I stared into my cup of tea, my mind drifting.

I felt Rich stand up from next to me. Looking up at him, he put his hand on my shoulder signaling he'd be right back. I looked over at Sharon quizzically, who just glanced into her cup as she took a sip.

"What is it?" I asked, looking at her.

"Nothing. It's nothing," she replied, grinning ever so slightly as she set her cup back down.

"Sharon..." I warned.

She sighed. "You don't have to worry about James. I promise you I'll take excellent care of him, and if something should happen, which it won't, you have permission to beat me silly."

I let out a laugh as she said the last part.

"I know there's nothing to worry about, and I know you'll take care of him, but it's just...I hate not being able to be here with him if he gets scared or something like that. You must go through the same thing when you leave Cole with us," I stated, more than asked.

"Yes, I do. When we were first leaving him with you, I practically cried myself to sleep every night we were away from him, but now that he's older, I don't feel so guilty for leaving him," Sharon explained.

Maybe she was right. Maybe the older James got, the less I'd have to worry about him.

"You have a point," I mumbled, taking a drink of my tea.

Sharon smiled, then took another drink from her own cup.

"Is there anything I should be wary of? You said something about James getting scared," she asked.

"Oh, yeah. He's been having nightmares lately about monsters trying to get him. I think as long as someone's with him, he'll make it through the night," I said, swirling my tea.

"Okay, no problem. He and Cole share his bed," she smiled.

A slight weight was lifted from my shoulders...but not much.

"And the other day, he fell out of his bed while taking a nap. I can't tell if it's just one of those once in a while type things or if it's going to be a habit."

"Another small thing. We'll have him sleep next to the wall, while Cole sleeps near the open edge."

Another small weight lifted.

Rich came back into the room and retook his seat next to me.

"We should leave soon," he said, drinking the last of his tea.

I nodded, gripping the cup with both hands. Looking up, I saw James and Cole walk into the kitchen, and James came over to stand next to my chair.

"Daddy said you were leaving," he said.

"Yeah, sweetie, we're leaving in a few minutes," I replied, pushing my chair back to face him.

His bottom lip quivered slightly before he threw his arms around my neck. My arms instinctively wrapped around his small frame as I stood, holding him against me.

"Excuse us," I said softly, turning to Rich, Sharon, and Cole before I walked down the hall with James, and into the family room. I sniffed before setting him on the ground and kneeling in front of him.

"James, why are you crying? If you cry, you'll make me cry, and I don't want to do that," I said, looking into his eyes.

"I don't want you to go," he whimpered.

"I don't want to go either, sweetie, but I have to. Daddy and I have to work," I said, putting my hands on his shoulders.

"Why?"

Tears were falling from his eyes now.

"Because we like to fly and for reasons that would get lost on you," I answered, then continued. "Why are you doing this now, James? You haven't done this before."

I hugged him again, pulling him tightly against me as he cried into my shoulder. Closing my eyes tightly, I willed myself not to cry along with him. I rubbed his back to calm him down and picked him up again to walk around the room in another attempt to calm him.

"Please, stop crying, James," I whispered.

When I faced the hallway, Rich was standing there, watching us.

"What's wrong?" he asked, walking into the room and over to us.

"He doesn't want us to leave," I said after clearing my throat.

Rich held his arms out, signaling he wanted to hold James. When I handed James to him, Rich held him on his hip, not letting him rest his head on his shoulder. I stood behind James so he wouldn't see me if I started crying; I held my left hand over my mouth as I brought my right arm across my chest to support my left elbow.

"James, why are you doing this?" he asked, gently, yet sternly, looking him in the eye.

"I don't want you and mommy to go," James wailed.

"We'll be back in a few days. You'll be having so much fun here with Aunt Sharon, Uncle Jeff, and your cousin Cole, the days will fly by and before you know it, we'll be home," Rich said, setting our son on the ground and kneeling in front of him.

No pun intended, right Rich...?

James sniffed a few times, then ran the back of his hand across his eyes.

I turned my back to them as I silently let my own tears fall. James had never acted like this and it was killing me.

"Okay now?" I heard Rich ask James.

"Yeah," he answered, squeakily.

"All right," Rich said softly, then I heard the rustle of clothes, so I assumed he hugged his son. "Go in the kitchen and ask Aunt Sharon for some water."

Without turning around, I knew James ran out of the room. In another moment, Rich was behind me, placing his hands on my arms. I spun around wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his chest, trying to stifle my tears. Rich put his arms securely around my back and waist, holding me as close to him as he could.

"He's never done this before," I said, but the phrase was muffled by his chest.

"He's all right now," he said, resting his head on my shoulder.

"I heard," I said, pulling my head away from his body.

"We have to go," he said softly, resting his temple against mine.

I nodded against him, then pulled back to wipe at my eyes, sniffed a few times, and cleared my throat.

Once I got control of myself again, we walked back into the kitchen to tell Sharon we had to leave to catch our flight (not like they could go anywhere without Rich). Sharon walked us to the door to say good bye; she gave us both hugs, then James came up to me again. I knelt down to him, giving him one last hug.

"Be good for Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jeff, okay? We'll be back before you know it," I said, rubbing his back and kissing his forehead.

"I will, mommy," he said, sniffling again, then kissing my cheek.

I kissed his cheek, then pulled back and smiled at him. I then stood so Rich could hug him.

"Don't forget to get me something," James said to Rich, who chuckled.

"We won't forget," he replied, kissing the top of his head.

When Rich stood up, we walked out of the house. Just as we were about to get in the car, I turned back to Sharon, who was standing at the door.

"Oh, Sharon, make sure James hashis bear when he sleeps," I called back.

"No problem," she answered with a wave. "Have a safe trip."

Rich and I waved back, then got into the car. As we drove off, I didn't even attempt to look back, afraid that if I did, I'd cry again...I didn't want to cry anymore.

Once we were out of Sharon's neighborhood, I stared at the dashboard trying to figure out why James was acting the way he was.

"Jo, you all right?" Rich asked, glancing at me as he drove.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," I answered.

"You're sure?"

"Yes...and when we get to the airport, I'll be better. My mind will be on work, not our son."

Rich grinned at me, taking my hand again.

A/N: There ya go! I should have another one out a lot sooner than this one.