DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CSI:NY OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN SAMANTHA FLACK, KELLAN AND KALLISON FLACK AND BABY HUNTER. AMANDA IS GRACIOUSLY ON LOAN FROM LAURZZ

THIS IS A FUTURE CHAPTER. FOR ALL OF THOSE ASKING TO SEE WHEN THE GIRLS MEET THEIR BABY BROTHER!


In all darkness there is light

"When I'm all alone
And no one else is there
Waiting by the phone
To remind me I'm still here
When shadows paint the scenes
Where spotlights used to fall
And I'm left wondering
Is it really worth it all?
There's a peace inside us all
Let it be your friend
It will help you carry on
In the end
There's a peace inside us all
Life can hold you down
When you're not looking up
Can't you hear the sounds?
Hearts beating out loud
Although the names change
Inside we're all the same
Why can't we tear down these walls?
To show the scars we're covering."
-Inside Us All, Creed


"In the end, a man's worth isn't measured by the amount of material possessions he owns or by his wealth. Instead, it is by the number of lives he has touched and those he loved, and who loved him in return."

Samantha woke with a start. Gasping loudly and bolting upright into a sitting position, her one hand clutching at her chest as her heart hammered ferociously, the other grasping the sheets so viciously her knuckles turned white. Sweat pooled on her forehead and trickled down her neck and back. The sheets below her wrinkled from her relentless tossing and turning and damp from her perspiration. She had been dreaming of Hawkes. Of the moment at his father's funeral six years ago that he'd gotten up to read the eulogy he'd poured his heart and his soul into. Sam hadn't even known his parents were even still alive. No one had for that matter. Hawkes had never talked about them, nor had anyone ever seen them. Whether it was in pictures or in person.

It hadn't been until the team walked into work one day and Mac announced that Hawkes had taken a couple of personal days to attend to helping his mother plan his father's funeral that they'd discovered their friend and colleague even had a family outside of those he'd met and grown exceptionally close to at work. And it wasn't until Samantha herself had received a phone call from Hawkes asking her if she and Flack would like to attend the service, that she'd begun to learn about the circumstances that had seen the relationship between father and son rapidly disintegrate.

Charles Hawkes had been a renowned neurologist. The first African American neurologist in New York State to be exact. He'd been widely respected and acclaimed. Publishing over fifty medical papers in his time and headlining many clinical studies. He had met his wife, Zara, while she was a medical student completing her rounds at Cedars Sinai, where he was the Chief of his specialty. Together, they'd had one child. A son that they'd waited three weeks to name Sheldon. It had been clear, from a very early age, that he was nothing short of a genius. And through constant pressure and prodding from his father, Hawkes had become a child prodigy. Graduating college at eighteen and becoming a fully board-licensed surgeon at twenty four. He was the apple of his father's eye. His greatest achievement.

Or at least he had been.

After a short and tumultuous career and losing one patient too many, Hawkes had hung up his OR scrubs in favour of the ones he'd donned in the ME's office. His relationship with his father had never been the same. Charles had been ashamed. Embarrassed that his son had given up the art of playing God in favour of assisting death. Totally irrational thinking, as far as Sam was concerned. And told her friend so when he'd confided his father's words to her as they sat sipping tea in the lounge of the funeral home while his mother 'entertained' guests in the main parlour. Hawkes had never told anyone about the falling out with his father. How his decision to join the ME's office had put a giant wedge between them. And when he'd decided to take the CSI exam, he had all but been disowned.

So she had been taken back when he'd gotten up in the church and read a speech that had brought tears to even the coldest eyes and choked the hardest of hearts. He had been calm and poised. Speaking in his smooth, poised voice. Recalling fond memories of his childhood. Of his father sitting him on his knee and reading him bedtime stories. His father's voice filling his innocent young mind of tales of dragon slaying knights that whisked the beautiful princess to safety and eternal, undying love. He talked of his father chasing monsters from under his bed and mending many a skin knee. Not with band-aids or iodine. But with kisses and hugs and if he was lucky enough, a few chocolate chip cookies. He told tales of learning to drive and his father's infinite patience with the task. Of his dad's tears of pride when he graduated from college and began his residency.

It was there that the recollections stopped and Hawkes instead focused on his father's personality. Strong and tenacious yet soft spoken and gentle. Patient and kind yet ultimately strict. Loving and attentive, yet always keeping a distance, allowing his wife to tend to most of the child rearing. And when he had already reduced most in attendance to blubbering fools, Hawkes had said those words that had rang so loud and clear in her dreams.

And now echoed in her ears.

Using her forearm to wipe the sweat from her brow, Sam drew slow and steady breaths into her lungs and waited, eyes closed and her chin to her chest, and waited for her pounding heart to settle itself down. The shock of the previous evening's events was beginning to wear off now. The numbness in her mind and body was quickly beginning to dissipate, leaving behind the stark reality of loss and grief. She had had her moments of tears the night before and in the early morning hours. Emotional breakdowns with both her husband and her brother, but immediately after that feeling of utter disbelief and denial had set in. Despite what she was hearing on the television or the tragic news that her husband had delivered before leaving the house, she was unable to fully accept what had happened. She had considered the possibility that it was all just a dream.

That she was going to wake up and in a state of panic from the realism, call Mari under the guise to just chat, and feel relief wash through her when Hawkes answered the phone. Once that irrational thought abandoned her, she began to question the validity of the news her husband had been given, and what she was hearing coming out of the reporters' mouth. Maybe it was all just a horrible mistake. Maybe Hawkes had just been gravely injured and the media was reporting erroneous news. Maybe he had been shot but he was going to pull through.

He had to pull through. For the sake of his loving, devoted and loyal wife and their children. For the sake of his friends and colleagues who had long ago become his family.

The finality, and reality, of what had happened at hit home the moment that her husband had stepped through the front door. Looking weary and broken. She'd never, ever seen him like that before. He was always the strong one. The pillar of strength and support for all of those around him. Especially her. While she was the emotional basket case and could weep over anything and everything at the drop of a hat, he kept things under control. He was the rock, the one that she turned to for comfort and guidance and reassurance.

She had taken one look at his face. At the sorrow and defeat that lingered there and all of her questions and wishful thoughts had been destroyed. Hawkes was dead. There was no doubt about it. He was dead and he was never coming back. And while Flack had been quick to wrap his strong, comforting arms around her, there'd been no whispered words of assurance or promises that everything was going to be okay. Instead, all she had found was silence. He had had no words to give her. He'd simply just held her and stroked her hair, the warmth of his body and the beating of his heart and the strength in his arms making her feel safe and secure, yet unable to full thaw the disbelief that had taken hold of her.

Sam closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest. Forcing deep steady breaths into her lungs and willing the tremors that inhabited her body to disappear. It took several long minutes until she felt composed again. Raking a hand through her hair, she grimaced in disgust to discover her tresses, and the sheets below her for that matter, were drenched in sweat. She'd definitely need to shower, and to pull herself together, before she greeted yet another day with her family.

Speaking of family, she thought, and laid a hand on her husband's side of the bed. His empty side. The sheets were cool. He'd been up for some time. After he'd comforted her in the foyer, they'd retreated upstairs to the privacy of their bedroom, locked the door and lost themselves in their own brand of comfort. It had been quick and aggressive. Far from their usual brand of comfort sex. Which was always slow and tender and meaningful. That morning it had all been about release. It had been pure selfishness and need on both of their parts, and afterwards, with their lungs heaving and their bodies drenched in sweat and their limbs untangled, she'd buried her face in his chest and cried. Consumed with guilt that she'd allowed herself to enjoy sex while her friend lay dead in the city morgue.

"What do you feel bad about?" Flack had asked, alarmed at the fact she was both shedding tears and expressing regret despite the fact she'd obviously enjoyed their activities. "There's no reason to feel bad 'cause you liked it. Why do you…?"

"Because he's dead, Don…because Hawkes is dead and we're…"

"We're alive," he interrupted, almost angrily. "We're alive and we're damn lucky to be alive. And there's nothing wrong with us making each other feel good and reminding each other that we are still here."


After that, she'd fallen into a fitful sleep. She had been aware, on several occasions, of her husband whispering to her and stroking her hair and her back. Doing his best to try and soothe her. But she hadn't realized that he had, during a point in the last hour and a half since they'd retired to their room, slipped out of bed.

She yawned noisily and tossed the comforter off of her. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, her feet had just hit the cold hardwood floor when she heard the bedroom door click open behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled as Flack padded into the room, in the same jeans he'd worn the night before, bare feet and a wife beater. Hunter cradled so gently and protectively against his chest.

"What are you two handsome boys up to?" she asked, turning and crawling back into the middle of the bed. There was something so incredibly sexy about seeing her husband with a baby. His hair mussed and his face scruffy and unshaven and giving him that dark and dangerous look. Those strong, muscular arms and hands, capable of seriously punishing someone, so tenderly and lovingly holding such a tiny, precious life.

"Someone needed to eat," Flack replied, his forearm under the baby's bum and his free hand on the back of Hunter's head. "And then didn't want to go back to sleep afterwards. I've been walking the kitchen for nearly an hour. He's just starting to fall asleep now."

"You're a consummate professional," she said. "You're definitely not rusty in the daddy skills."

"I don't know about that…it's been five years since we've had anything this small around the house…here big guy…" leaning down, he gently laid the now sleeping baby beside her in the bed. "Go and see your mommy for a little bit. She's hogging the comfy, big people bed."

Sam blinked, then stared up at him, taken back by the use of the word mommy.

"Well that is what you are, right?" Flack asked, as he carefully climbed into bed as well. He yawned noisily and ran his hands over his weary face and then put them behind his head. "I mean…you're taking care of him now. You're going to adopt him. You're the only mommy he's going to know. Unless you don't want me calling you that."

"Of course I want you calling me that," she told him "And that's what I want to be…it's just…it shocked me to hear you say that. That's all."

He nodded and looked over at her. In awe of the depth of love and acceptance that was in her eyes as she trailed a fingertip down his son's…their son's…nose and fussed with the buttons on his sleeper. She was an amazing mother. In his eyes anyway. When the girls had been born, she'd had her awkward moments. Times when she doubted how she was taking care of them. If she was doing a good job with them, if she was feeding them enough and changing their diapers in time. Was she burping them properly, bathing them fine?

Was she loving them enough?

The truth was, she couldn't possibly love their daughters more. And Flack respected her determination to be the best possible mother she could be. Kellan and Kallison were happy and healthy and blessed to have a mom that love them so wholly and completely.

And now Hunter was going to be blessed to have that in his life as well. He could have so easily went to a foster home. Ended up in the system. And Sam had shown the single most unselfish act of her life by accepting him into her life.

"We're going to have to get him things, Donnie," she said, stretching out on her side, her head resting next to Hunter's, her hand sitting softly on the baby's stomach. "He's going to need a proper bed and everything else that a baby needs. Clothes and toys. A monitor."

"I think you just want an excuse to go to Babies R Us and max out the credit card," he teased, his eyes sparkling playfully.

"Maybe," she said with a smile.

"We'll go out shopping and get him a crib. We'll buy whatever he needs and turn the spare room into a nursery. You can even pick out a theme and paint and wallpaper and all of that and go all slave driver on me. And we'll get his clothes and his toys and all of his other belongings from Jordan's house once we get all of those papers signed with her lawyer this afternoon."

She nodded and combed the fingers of her free hand through Hunter's hair. "I need to ask you something. And I don't want you to get upset or offended. It's an innocent question and I mean it with all respect to you and Jordan."

"Okay…" he said with a frown. "What…?"

"Is it wrong of me that I want to change his name?" she asked.

"He'll become a Flack once we sign those papers and I become his custodial parent. We'll just have to get it legally changed is all."

"I mean his first name," she said, biting her bottom lip nervously. "It's just that…everything is new, right? He's with his daddy now and he's got a new mommy and older sisters. He's got a new life. And I know that as long as he stays Hunter Gates or even Hunter Flack…Donnie, I know that every time you look at him you've got this incredible guilt for what you did. And I just thought…I thought that maybe we could start over again. All of us. And that changing his name could be the start of that."

Flack nodded slowly, considering her words. "Do you have another name in mind?" he asked curiously.

"A couple," she admitted. "I was thinking maybe either sticking with the whole K theme we have going on with our kids or maybe just going completely original. Maybe something like Kaleb or Konnor or Keegan."

He shook his head at all three suggestions.

"Okay…then maybe something different? Like Alexander? Or Austin? Or Joshua?"

"I don't like any of those. I didn't like them when you brought them up when you were pregnant and we didn't know if we were having boys or girls."

"You are so difficult," she huffed. "Well…there is one other name that I really, really, really like."

"And what's that?" he asked.

"Dawson," she replied.

"Jesus, Sam," he couldn't help but laugh. "Not your Titanic obsession coming out again after all of these years."

"Actually, I was thinking more about this massive crush I used to have on James Vanderbeek. You know, the guy from Dawson's Creek? Well I developed this huge crush on him when I saw this movie he was in. Rules of Attraction. He was totally hot in that. The movie was totally hot to be honest and after that, I always said I would name my first born son Dawson. Even though Pacey was my favourite on the show. But I mean who names their kid Pacey?"

"Probably the same people who would name their kid Dawson," Flack teased.

She frowned. "I think it's an adorable name," she said. "And you're right…it doesn't hurt that Leo's name in Titanic was Jack Dawson."

"You have this serious fetish for younger guys," Flack laughed.

God, it felt so good to laugh after the evening they'd had.

"Well obviously," she said exasperatedly. "I married you didn't I? I snagged myself a younger man. Someone I could whip into shape and teach them everything they need to know to keep my satisfied and happy in every possible way."

"Yeah, right…" he chuckled. "I think you're forgetting who schooled who in this relationship. And it's only a three year difference. Mind you, the way the evil monster in law carried on about it, you would have thought it was more like thirteen."

"She just wanted you for herself," Sam teased.

Flack grimaced. "Now that is seriously disturbing," he declared.

He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, relaxing in the silence that still enveloped their home. Knowing that in a matter of a half an hour, three giggling, rambunctious girls were going to come bursting out of one of the rooms at the end of the hall and the insanity of real life would begin all over again. He heard the rustling of sheets beside him and felt Sam's body brush up against his as she moved closer to him. And was ready to wrap an arm around her when he felt her place something, or more correctly, someone, on his chest. He cracked open an eye and looked down at his infant son now lying on them, then looked over at his wife.

"You got this real thing with seeing me with babies," he said.

"Can I help it if I find it incredibly sexy?" she asked, and snuggled in tightly against him, her hand resting on Hunter's back. "Like I've already told you, you do the big, strong man with a tiny baby thing very well."

He snorted and shook his head and closed his eyes once more. "So this name thing," he began. "Is it something that you really want to do or just some idea you're tossing out there for consideration or what?"

"It's something I really want to do," she replied. "I know it makes me seem like a selfish bitch and that I…"

"It doesn't make you seem like anything," Flack told her. "And if that's what you really want."

"Well you have to want it too," Sam said. "He is your son."

"He's our son. He belongs to both of us now. And if it's something you want to do, then I'll go along with it. You're right. It is a new life and a new start. It was the name Jordan gave him. I never liked it to begin with. And changing his name…it would help with putting things behind us."

"We can keep the names he has now and use them as middle and third names," she reasoned.

"Whatever you want, Sammie. If you want it, I want it. Okay? We'll change his name. We'll call our lawyer and find out how we go about doing that. Alright?"

She nodded and pressed a kiss to his temple. "Dawson?" she asked hopefully.

He sighed heavily and considered it for a long moment. "We can call him Dawson." he agreed.

"Thank you, baby," she said, and kissed the corner of his lips before settling her head down alongside of his on his pillow. "The girls aren't up yet?"

"Do you hear any shrieking and squealing? Any name calling and ass kicking going on downstairs?"

"Okay smart ass I was just asking," she giggled. Then grew solemn. "I think I'm going to go over to the hospital today to see Danny. I don't know if you want to come or if you want to stay home with the kids. And Adam might want to go and see him."

"Adam can watch the kids and we'll go over and see Danny. I don't even know if he knows about Hawkes yet."

"Someone must have told him by now. It's not something you keep back from someone."

Flack shrugged. "Danny was pretty banged up, babe. In and out of consciousness. They might have held off on telling him until he completely woke up."

"Did you see Mari while you were there?"

He nodded. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her though. She had her mom and her mom's boyfriend and Kelli with her. All talking to a department chaplain Mac had sent over there. I wasn't about to go walking in during that. You know my aversion to anything religious since I got myself blown up eleven years ago."

"There is a God, Donnie," she informed him gently.

"Sammie…don't start, okay? We only get into disagreements when we talk about this stuff. I don't want to get into an argument with you. I agreed to have the girls baptised Catholic because both of us are. I agreed to sending them to a Catholic school. But I only go into a church for two things. Weddings and funerals. So let's not get into a discussion on how the world and everything in it was created, okay?"

"All I was going to say is that…"

"How can there be a God?" he challenged. "How can there be? Look at all the shit that has happened in the course of history. All the horrific things that the world has had to endure. All the wars, genocide. The list goes on and on. Plane crashes that wipe out hundreds of people at once, mass murders that go on shooting rampages in schools. Nine eleven. How can there be a God? Why would God let all of that happen?"

"He doesn't make it happen," she reasoned. "He just doesn't stop it."

"Some kind of God you got there," Flack snorted. "Too many good people are dying and too many evil bastards are living. And that isn't fair. It isn't fair and it isn't right."

"No, it's not," she agreed. "But no one ever said life was fair."

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "You're kidding me right? That's your great philosophical statement? Life isn't fair? You don't think I know that by now?"

"It's not that I don't think you know it," Sam said. "I just think…Don, there has to be a God. I know that there's a God. And we don't have to agree on that. I respect you and what you want to believe. But wouldn't you like to hear my reason on why I know there's a God?"

He sighed heavily. "By all means…" he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"There's a God because something or someone gave me the strength to finally get away from Zack and come to New York City. And I came here and I met you. Someone also had a hand in Kellan and Kallison. When I lost the first baby and the doctors told us we would probably never have any children because of the state of my insides, that was a huge blow to us, wasn't it."

He nodded.

"And it took a while once we got married, but we ended up getting pregnant. And not just with one baby but with two. And I carried successfully. Sure, it was scary a few times and they didn't exactly arrive under the best circumstances or in the best health and I…"

"You could have died," he interrupted her. "You seem to forget about that part."

"But I didn't. And Kellan and Kallison…they're our miracles, Donnie. We weren't blessed with just one, but two. And they make everything we went through worth it. And Hunter…if there wasn't a God, he would have been killed too. But someone was protecting him and he made it. So how can you tell me that there isn't a God?"

"Because Hawkes is still dead," he told her. "And Danny could have been dead too. Because bad things constantly happen to good people. And that's just something I can't accept. You're right about the girls. And Hunter. I'll give you that much. But I'm never going to have this faith that you have."

"Maybe one day you'll get it back," she said.

"Maybe…who knows….all I know is that this pain in my chest…in my heart…it fucking hurts…and when I saw Hawkes lying there in the ME's office…" his words trailed off and he shook his head. "Can we not talk about this?" he asked. "I don't want to talk about this. Can we please just drop it for now?"

"Okay," she said, surrendering in a quiet, understanding voice.

Laying her hand on his unshaven cheek, she turned his face towards her. Golden brown eyes locked on brilliant blue as her fingertips began a soft exploration of his face. She traced the furrows in his brow, allowed her fingers to travel down his nose and skim his cheeks. Her feathery caresses drifted along his jaw before her fingers ever so gently rested on his chin. Her eyes never once left his. The moment was so tender, with all her emotions and feeling laid bare on her face, that it nearly took his breath away and brought tears to his eyes.

Sam smiled, then ran a finger over his lips before covering his mouth with hers in a tender, unhurried kiss. When they were both breathless, she pulled away from him and trailed her finger over his mouth once again. Tracing the small scar near the left corner of his top lip. A lifelong souvenir of a backhand he'd received courtesy his father. For being a mouthy ten year old. She had long ago discovered every inch of him. Every nick, every scar, every little mark that marred his body. From childhood and career wounds to the freckles that dotted his shoulders. She knew every muscle in his arms and back and had memorized how they felt under her hands as he moved. Every inch of soft, warm skin. And what others may have seen as flaws, she was a small pieces of that made him who he was. Strong and brave. Reliable and trustworthy. Determined and hard working. And when it counted most, tender and loving and remarkably compassionate.

He grinned, then pecked the tip of her nose. "You're making me nervous babe," he said. "Staring at me like that."

"I am not staring," she corrected him. "I am admiring. Is that so wrong? That I like looking at you? That I like checking out my man and thinking how damn lucky I am to have ever landed you in the first place."

"Now you're just making me blush," he teased.

"Regardless of what you say or think," she said, as her fingers drifted down his neck and across his collarbone before settling her hand on his chest. "God brought you to me, Don. And I thank Him every day for that."

Flack blinked. Both stunned and remarkably touched by the words that had just tumbled out of her mouth with such ease and sincerity. He opened his mouth to speak, but found no words to form a suitable response.

Hunter gave a sneeze. Followed by an impossibly large yawn.

"And you, little man," Sam said and pressed a kiss to the top of the baby's head. "You are going to love it here. You've got a mommy and a daddy that love you more then words. And two big sisters that are going to fawn all over you and spoil you senseless. And grandparents that…well I don't know what your grandma Flack is going to say. She's the wicked witch of Queens, you know. But your grandpa will absolutely adore you."

"He will," Flack agreed. "But my mom…she's going to burn me at the goddamn stake. You think she reacted badly when she found out about Jordan? Wait until she founds out she's got a grandson she never knew about. She's going to have a stroke. Or kill me. Or both."

"She's a fine one to talk to about people and their mistakes," Sam snorted. "Considering she got very…what's the word? Acquainted with Stanton Gerrard back in the day."

"Fuck buddies in every sense of the word," Flack chuckled.

"Bad language daddy!" Sam scolded. "Don't make me take you in the bathroom and wash your mouth out with soap. You've really got to watch your mouth around the kids."

"He's a month old. He has no clue what profanity is," Flack defended himself.

"But Kellan and Kallison do. And three mornings ago they were calling each others bastards and bitches while they were scraping it out in the basement. You're damn lucky the f word never escaped from either of them or I would have hunted you down and kicked your a…"

He pecked her lips to silence her. "Language mommy," he said.

She stuck her tongue out at him and rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Relishing the silence in the room and the warmth radiating off of his body and the sound of his heart beating. Until the moment was so rudely interrupted by the sound of a door crashing open at the end of the hall and the girls' giggles and loud chatter as they piled out of Kallison's bedroom.


Flack gave a tortured groan and ran his hands over his face. "And so it begins," he grumbled.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Kellan's voice appeared on the other side of their closed door. "It's time to get up! Time for breakfast!"

"Yeah!" Kallison cried. "We're hungry!"

"These are the mornings where you wish you could trust them not to get the juice all over the floor," Flack said to Sam. "Just tell them to help themselves."

"You're only saying that 'cause you're not the one who usually cleans the mess," she laughed. "I guess we should do the whole, 'Meet your mysteriously appearing brother' thing first."

"Mommy!" Kellan called, banging her hand on the door. "Get up! Time to get up lazy bones!"

Sam's eyes narrowed as she regarded her husband. "Did you teach them that?" she asked.

"I am totally innocent this time. Seriously though, Sammie…what are we going to tell them? We can't just tell them, your dad got his girlfriend pregnant and now she's dead and the baby's come to live with us. They're not going to understand that."

"We tell them the truth," she said.

"That is the truth. And they can't comprehend the truth at their age."

"Then we just tell her that you had a baby with Hunter's mommy and that his mommy died and before she did, she wanted you to have him."

Flack frowned. "What happened to the original idea about his mom going to heaven to be an angel and God giving Hunter to us 'cause He knew we'd love him and take care of him?"

"You just said ten minutes ago you didn't believe in God and now you want to tell your kids God personally told you to look after the baby?"

"Mommy!" Kallison knocked loudly on the door. "Daddy! Are you guys alive in there?"

"Or are you having a tickle fight again under the covers?" her sister asked.

"Well hurry up and decide what we want to say before they come storming in here," Sam said. "They'll only knock and scream at us for so long."

"Fine..we'll do it your way. The whole baby with the girlfriend thing. But they're not going to understand it. Not right now anyway."

"Maybe not. But when they're old enough to ask questions, you'll be prepared with the proper answers," Sam reasoned.

"That's it…leave the hard stuff to me," he grumbled.

"Exactly!" she chirped and sitting up in bed, leaned over and kissed him. "Which is also why when they're old enough, you're discussing sex with them."

"There's no way in hell you're…"

"Come on in guys!" Sam called. "Daddy and I have a surprise for you!"

"That's one way of putting it," Flack muttered, as the bedroom door flew open and the twins hurried in. Leaving Amanda lingering in the doorway, a shy, awkward look on her face.

"You can come in too, M&M," Sam told her. "You can take part in the surprise."

The little girl gave a bright smile and bounded into the room.

"Whoa…whoa…" Flack attempted to prevent the girls from piling onto the bed. "You guys gotta be careful, okay?"

"Why is there a baby on top of you, daddy?" Kallison asked.

"He's a cute baby," Kellan observed. "Who does he belong to? Are we babysitting him? Do we get to keep him? What's his name?"

"Well, right now his name is Hunter," Sam told them. "But soon his name is going to be Dawson."

"I like that name!" Kallison exclaimed.

"Me too," her sister agreed. "Better than Hunter. Is he visiting mommy? How long is he staying for? Can he sleep in my room until his mommy and daddy come to get him?"

"I want him to sleep in my room," Kallison argued.

"No way!" Kellan cried. "I said it first so he gets to sleep in my room!"

"Girls…Hunter is going to be staying in mommy and daddy's room," Sam said.

"But how long is he here for?" Kallison asked. "And why did his mommy and daddy let him come visit?"

"Well…" Sam chose her words carefully. "He's actually here to live with us. Forever."

"Forever?" Kellan's eyes widened with excitement.

"How come?" Kallison asked. "His mommy and daddy didn't want him anymore?"

"Well you see…" God, this is more difficult then I thought, Sam mused, tucking her hair nervously behind her ears.

"We are his mommy and daddy," Flack spoke up.

The twins' eyes narrowed.

"But mommy never had a baby in her tummy," Kallison stated matter-of-factly. "And that's where babies come from."

"Yeah…" Kellan agreed, her head cocked to the side, a suspicious look on her face. "Mommy never had no baby in her tummy. And you said that mommy couldn't have any more babies. 'Cause God didn't want her to."

"That we were special angels," Kallison added.

"You two are special angels," Flack told her. "And you're right. Mommy didn't have a baby in her tummy and she can't have anymore babies."

"But you just said that your Hunter's mommy and daddy," Kallison pointed out.

"I am so confused!" Kellan declared with an exasperated sigh and slapped a palm to her forehead.

"Well this is how it works," Sam began. "You guys remember when daddy had a girlfriend?"

"Yeah…" Kallison pouted. "Stupid cow."

"Kallison!" her mother scolded. "That's not nice!"

"It's true mommy!" Kellan piped up. "She was a stupid cow! She made you and daddy fight! She made you cry and made us go live somewhere else! She took daddy away!"

"No one took anyone away and no one is a stupid cow!" Sam informed them angrily. "That's just mean and you don't talk like that about people! Understand me? What is wrong with you two?"

"We had to leave daddy 'cause of her!" Kallison, the more stubborn of the twins argued back. "We had to go live with Uncle Sid! She was mean! She made you cry mommy!"

"We didn't get to live with daddy 'cause of her," Kellan added.

"Jesus H Christ," Flack muttered under his breath. "Yeah…this was a good idea…"

Sam glared at him. Then looked back at her daughters. "Listen to me…both of you. What happened was no one's fault. It happened and it's a long time ago. And if I ever hear you say anything bad about daddy or what happened ever again, I will literally put you both over my knee and spank your asses back and blue! Do you understand me?"

They blinked, stunned by their mother's outburst. Flack stared at her, equally as shocked by the sudden change in her. Usually Sam was the calm and composed one. She normally shied away from raising her voice and handing out the discipline. Leaving him to do the dirty work.

"Now both of you be quiet and let your father talk. Kapish?"

Both girls nodded.

Sam sighed heavily. "Go ahead, Don," she said.

"Like your mom said, about me having a girlfriend…" he began, slightly amused by the terrified expressions on his kids' faces. "Well, she ended up having a baby. And she ended up dying and…."

"How?" Kallison asked.

"Was she sick?" Kellan inquired.

"She went to heaven to become an angel," Flack told them. "And she had asked, that if anything ever happened to her, that Hunter come and live with us. Because she'd knew that we'd love him and take care of him. And that you two would make really amazing big sisters."

The girls both beamed.

"So he's going to live with us?" Kallison asked, reaching out to gently touch Hunter's black hair. "Where's he going to sleep?"

"We're going to make him a bedroom," Sam replied. "In the spare room."

"He's cute," Kallison declared. "He looks like you daddy!"

Kellan stretched out a tiny hand and softly stroked her brother's cheek. Then promptly dropped her face into the mattress and burst into tears.

"Kellan, what's wrong?" Flack handed Hunter to Sam and then leaned down and laid his hand on his daughter's head, stroking her hair soothingly. "What's a matter, baby sweets? Why are you crying?"

"Because!" she sobbed.

"Because why? Why are you sad?" he asked. "Look at daddy and tell him why you're sad."

She raised her head. "Because daddy! Because I got what I wanted! God answered my prayers! I prayed and prayed and prayed for a little brother or sister! And…and God gave me one!"

Choking back emotion of his own, Flack scooped her up effortlessly into his arms and leaned back against the headboard, cuddling her close.

"I wanted a baby brother so bad, daddy!" she cried, curling her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "I wanted it so bad and God listened to me!"

Flack simply nodded and continued to stroke her hair and her back. Closing his eyes, he rested his chin on the top of her head.

Maybe God really does work in mysterious ways, he thought.

And he hoped and prayed that maybe one day, his questions would be answered as well.

Because all of his prayers and wishes had come true. Three beautiful children and an amazing wife.

Life couldn't get much better.

And he knew, if that day was his last one on earth, he'd go having captured everything he had ever wanted.


Thanks to everyone that is reading and reviewing! I appreciate each and every one of you! Even all of the lurkers! I've got some plans in the making for this story. We're back to the present next (if the muse says it's okay) and we're going to Las Vegas with Sam and Flack and Angell and Mark!

Please R and R folks! Makes my day!

Special thanks to:

Hope4sall

Afrozenheart412

CrazyGirlCass

SpankyMcDoogleFace

xsamiliciousx

HighQueenReicheru

Wolfeylady

Madison Bellows

Soccer-bitch

Forest Angel

Delko's Girl 88