Chapter 14: The Apartment

A/N: I do not own Covert Affairs.

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Holding the last box, Annie looked back into the apartment she had inhabited since being back. Inhabited, she thought. I'm finally truly living again. Her face cracked into a smile as she closed the door behind her and locked it one last time. Auggie leaned against her car holding his cane. As she approached him, his face spread into a wide smile. He reached out with one arm and in one fluid, sweeping motion, pulled her to his side for a long, passionate kiss. Annie nearly dropped the box she was holding.

"Well, Mr. Anderson, what was that for?" she said, breathless.

"A man can't just want to give the mother of his child a show of affection?" he whispered against her lips.

"Well, I suppose he can..." she said as she leaned in for another kiss. She felt him wince, slightly, and she quickly pulled away. "Oh, damnit, I'm sorry Auggie!" She placed the box in the car and gingerly held his side with the still broken rib.

"Walker, I'd put up with any pain this planet can throw at me if it meant I got to hold you in my arms." He laced his fingers through hers and placed a kiss on her hand. "I'm fine, I promise. Let's go."

Several minutes later, they were carrying the last of her things into Auggie's apartment. She looked around at what was left of her life after going dark. There wasn't much. A box of kitchen stuff, two boxes of clothes, a few boxes of odds and ends. All in all, it added up to about 10 boxes. Her entire life had been reduced to 10 boxes because of Henry Wilcox. She slumped down onto the couch and held her head in her hands. Even now, when she should be so happy, he was finding ways to torment her from the grave. Auggie sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

It took a minute for Annie to respond. "Auggie, I'm happy, I really am, but... this is all so sad. Everything I own fits in just a few boxes and none of it is stuff that matters to me. It all just... stuff. I don't have anything from... before."

He placed his forehead against hers. "You have me."

Nodding against him she said, "And I couldn't be happier about that. It's just... I don't have any pictures or mementos... nothing to remind me of who I was before Henry Wilcox came into my life... and destroyed it."

"We'll make new memories." His hand rested against her belly. "Make new beginnings."

Annie looked down at his hand and couldn't help but smile. She was having a baby. Auggie's baby. Never in a million years had she thought she would be sitting here, on his couch, with his child growing inside of her, talking about their future. She had to try not to let Henry Wilcox destroy her future as well as her past.

"Speaking of new beginnings, I was thinking." Auggie said a moment later.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You know, this place really isn't practical or big enough for a baby. There's only one bedroom and with the stairs and everything..." he trailed off and waited for her to say something.

"Auggie, are you saying you want to get a bigger apartment with me?" Annie's face showed clear signs of surprise.

"Well, I have this friend..."

"Oh, how shocking!"

Auggie smiled and continued, "Yeah, and he has this great place I thought you might like not far from here." He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and held them up for her to see. "He said we could go check it out whenever we wanted."

Annie couldn't believe this. Auggie wanted to go apartment shopping with her? "But, you love this apartment."

He pulled her hand into his. "I love you more. And I think we could both use the change of scenery, so to speak." His mouth curled up into a sly smile. "I want our baby to be safe and happy. And the best way to achieve that is if the parents are happy. Say you'll come look?"

She leaned in a kissed him. "Let's go!" she said as she snatched the keys from his hand and whirled up off the couch.

After a short drive, they were sitting in front of one of the most beautiful townhouses Annie had ever seen. "Oh, Auggie, it's beautiful." She said as she climbed out of the car and offered him her lead. The outside was all red brick with these cute little awnings over each window. The door she was unlocking was a deep navy blue.

As she stepped in, Annie nearly fainted from the spectacle. The living room was fully furnished with dark red furniture. A fireplace sat in a far corner next to a huge bay window. To her right, the kitchen had all new stainless steel appliances and plenty of granite counter tops. The floor she walked on was a gorgeous cherry hardwood. Her footsteps barely made a sound as she tiptoed through the house. Past the living room sat three large bedrooms. The first was set up to be a workout room. There was a punching bag off in the corner, a weight bench along one wall, and a wrestling mat took up most of the floor.

She walked to the next room and opened the door. This room was a blank canvas. The walls were a plain white and no furniture was present. In fact, the only thing in the room were several paint and wallpaper samples that were suspiciously gender neutral and very baby oriented laying on the windowsill.

The third and final bedroom held a king sized four-poster canopy bed. The drapings on the bed were a rich purple. She noticed two open closets, both very large walk-ins. One of them held an entire wall of shoe racks. A rocking chair sat off in the corner by the window with a small blanket draped over it. Opening the door to the master bath, the first thing she saw here was a very large jacuzzi tub with several water jets. There was also a large stand alone shower and a double his/hers sink.

Auggie came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "What do you think?"

Annie was close to tears. "How? When? How in the hell did you do all this?" She asked as she turned around in his arms.

"Well, Joan and Arthur helped me with most of it while we were in California. She picked out all the color schemes of course. I handled the workout room. My friend that owns this place helped set it all up for us. What did you think I was doing all that time you spent with Danielle?" His face held that smile again. "Do you like it?"

"Auggie, it's... wonderful. But how on earth can we ever afford this place? There's no way it's in our price range."

"I made him an offer he couldn't refuse." He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, it's plenty affordable. But only if you really like it."

"I love it." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "But we're getting a moving service this time."

Auggie laughed, deep and cheerful. "You got it, Walker."

A/N #2: Stay tuned for Annie and Auggie's first day back at Langley after him being kidnapped and their moving in together! This journey is exciting to me and I can't wait to take it with you guys! :D