A/N: Hello Everyone! I'm afraid I'm about to disappoint with the news that this is the last chapter for this story. I toyed with many different directions that I could take- twists and turns- conflicts and resolutions, but I simply couldn't shake the feeling that it has run it's course. That being said, I'm open for a sequel... as I know there are things that many are curious to know (i.e. How Garrett ended up in PC). I feel like there is definitely more to do with this little family, but it's just hard to do that within the context of the current story.
So, here is the last chapter. I thank you all for reading and reviewing this, you really kept me going... and I implore you to continue to do so! Throw me some ideas for what else you would like to see with these characters. Hopefully, I will get some inspiration to come back with a Part II. :)
Chapter Twenty
What a difference a week makes. As she set the patio table with plates and silverware, Alexis watched a giggling Danny run round the backyard kicking (and tripping over) a soccer ball with Molly. It was hard to believe that just a week ago he was released from the hospital, and a week before that they were worried they were going to lose him. Their Danny was nothing if not resilient and so full of life.
"Mmmm…" Being pulled from her gaze, she inhaled deeply when she felt two strong arms wrap around her midsection from behind. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head back against his shoulder, "I don't think I could ever get tired of this."
"Yeah… you only like me for my cooking skills…" Garrett smirked.
"Well, I can think of a couple other skills that are favorable." She turned slightly to meet his eyes, and his lips, "But that chicken does smell amazing…"
"Oh, I know how it is…" Garrett laughs before kissing her cheek and going back to the grill to tend to said chicken, "This is almost ready. How's everything else?"
"I don't know… I left Sam in the kitchen cutting up salad." She shrugged as she continued to place the wrapped silverware around the table.
"Well I haven't heard any screams or seen any blood so I think we are in good shape so far…"
"Blood?!" Sam exclaimed as she made her way onto the deck with a large bowl in her arms. She looked at her father curiously.
"Your mother told me she left you to cut up the salad…"
"Oh, real nice. Thanks for the vote of confidence, you two." Sam rolled her eyes as her mother took the bowl from her and kissed her forehead.
"You know we love you," glancing down, she lifted her daughter's hand to hers, "What's this?"
"What?" Sam looked at her bandaged thumb curiously, "Oh… well…"
"You cut yourself!" Alexis threw her head back in laughter as she set the bowl on the table.
"Hey, so what? You didn't even know where the kitchen knives were when I asked you!" Sam defended, "You're the one that abandoned me in there and told me the rest was up to me!"
"Blah, blah, blah… you still cut yourself." Her mother chided with a smirk as she set the bowl on the table.
"And you wouldn't know a paring knife if it bit you in the…" Sam broke her stern gaze when her father cleared his throat loudly.
"Girls…" Garrett warned them playfully as he plated the chicken from the grill, "Dinner's ready…"
"Molly, Danny!" Alexis yelled down to the yard, "Come on and wash your hands, dinner is ready!" She watched with a smile as Danny came bounding up the yard and up the stairs with Molly lagging behind.
"Corn?!" He asked excitedly.
"Yes, there's corn just for you!" Alexis ruffled his hair before he ran over to his mother.
"Momma! We hab corn!" Danny practically bounced at the news.
"I know!" Sam laughed, "Go in and get cleaned up with Aunt Molly, okay?"
"Tay!" He nodded before scurrying into the house.
"He loves corn…" Sam shook her head as she headed to the table to begin preparing her son's plate.
"I know," Alexis nodded, situating her own plate and the dishing out some of the salad and vegetables in front of her, "He wanted it for breakfast this morning."
"I can't believe it was only two weeks ago when he didn't want to eat at all," Sam shook her head as she continued to prepare Danny's plate. Alexis noticed her daughter's emotion.
"I know, honey…" Alexis smiled, covering Sam's hand with hers, "But he's doing great, now."
"I know…" Sam nodded, but wasn't too convincing.
"The doctors were shocked at how quickly he bounced back," Garrett's pride was evident in his bright smile as he reassured his daughter, "They don't foresee any future complications at all."
"Yeah, but they didn't foresee anything happening in the first place, did they?" She questioned as she sat down next to the booster seat which was between her and her mother.
Alexis opened her mouth to reassure her, only to be interrupted by Danny and Molly bursting through the screen door causing it to slam against the outside of the house before closing again. As Danny practically hopped over to the table, she gave him a knowing glance, "You know, little boy, one of these days you're going to break that door…"
"Sahwee," Danny looked up at her sheepishly before she lifted him into her arms and into his booster seat on the chair beside her, "I be tahfoo."
"Yes, please be careful…" Alexis bit back her laughter before kissing his head.
"Corn, peese?" He tilted his head, looking skeptically at the cut up chicken and leafy greens on his plate.
"You can have corn," Sam reminded him softly, "But you need to eat your chicken first."
"Wow," Molly looked around at the spread in pleased astonishment, "Man, have I missed this…"
"You Davis women…" Garrett shook his head after taking a bite of his dinner, "All you care about is food…"
"Hey!" Alexis protested, "That's not true! We very much care about who is preparing the food for us!"
"Well, thank you…" Garrett winked, holding their gaze from across the table.
"Mom, did I tell you I got my schedule in the mail yesterday?" Molly's eyes lit up.
"You did? Wow," Alexis shook her head, "I can't believe summer is already over…"
"And I'm going to be a junior in high school!" Molly sang before stuffing her face with her cherished cuisine.
"I still can't believe you can drive…" Sam shook her head, "Seems like just yesterday I taught you how to ride a bike!"
"That's right!" Molly smiled wistfully, "You did teach me how to ride a bike, didn't you?"
"She sure did," Alexis nodded, winking to her eldest daughter.
"It was pretty easy though…" Sam smiled, "Being the genius that you are, you caught on pretty quick."
"Pretty soon I will be able to teach Danny how to ride a bike, huh?" Molly smiled to her nephew who simply nodded as he chomped on his dinner.
"Oh, please… no..." Alexis sighed as she wrapped her arm around her grandson and rested her head atop his, "Don't age him faster than he already is! He needs to stay my baby forever."
"I not a baby!" He protested, a signature scowl on his face at the offensive comment, prompting laughter from the table.
"You're my baby." His grandmother chided softly.
"Nuh-uh," He shook his head, "I's big boy!"
"You can be a big boy if you want, but you will always be my baby." Alexis mumbled as she kissed his head before going back to her dinner.
"Don't worry, Danny…" Sam started, drawing her son's attention, "Grandma thinks that I am still a baby, too."
"You are my baby!" Alexis protested, drawing laughs from the group.
"Mine too…" Garrett interjects cheekily, taking a sip of his wine.
"Aww," Molly looked between her mother and Garrett, "How perfect is this?"
"So perfect," Alexis smiled but couldn't help but roll her eyes at her youngest girl's wistfulness, before meeting Garrett's adoring gaze.
"Danny!" Sam scolded as she looked over in time to witness her son swipe his grandmother's corn cob and begin munching away.
"What?" Alexis was confused before looking down at her plate and then at a wide-eyed Danny, "Did you steal that off of my plate?"
He looked at her for a moment before holding the cob in front of her, "Corn?"
"No, thank you…" She chuckled, "You can finish it now."
"Tay," He nods happily before bringing his attention back to his favorite vegetable.
"Sam, did you tell your mom about our plans for tomorrow?" Garrett's brow rose, watching his daughter's face light up.
"Oh!" She grinned, turning towards her mother, "We are going fishing! And you are coming with us!"
"Fishy!"Danny exclaimed, looking between his mother and grandmother.
"Oh…" Alexis glanced around the table, 'That's really a sweet idea…"
"Mooommmm," Molly whined, "Come on! It will be so much fun!"
"I'm sure it will be fun, Molly, for all of you but… I'm not really the boating type." Alexis took a nervous sip of her wine.
"Come on, Lex." Garrett smiled, "You just said yourself, summer is almost over! We have to get in as much boating time as we can."
"Can't we just fish off of that dock out there? There are plenty of little fishies right there…"
"Fishy!" Daniel exclaimed again between bites of corn.
"How fun is that, though?" Sam lowered her gaze to her mother, "You need to confront your fears. I think you would really like boating."
"Whoever said that fears need to be confronted, hmm? I think someone made that up as a way to make people crazy… to lower their self worth."
"Mom…" Sam shook her head, "I don't know how you could be my mother. I lived on the water!"
"Yeah, well," Alexis gestured across the table, "Some things you didn't get from me."
"Thank God!" She threw a smile to her father.
"We all got our love of the water from our dads… except Danny. He got it from his momma."
"And his daddy," She lovingly wiped a few pieces of corn from her son's mouth, "Jason and I used to love to go out on the water. Especially at night."
"It's so romantic…" Molly sighed.
"I'm sure it is. I'm sure it's amazing and so very romantic… it's just not my idea of a good time."
"Danny would really love to show your how good he is at fishing on Papa's boat, don't you baby?" Sam cajoled her son who nodded in response, "Tell grandma to come fishing with us!"
"Fishy, gumma!" Danny smiled sweetly up at her and she melted at the sight. She could resist a lot of things, but Danny's face wasn't one of them.
"I will think about it," She laughed as she brought a napkin to his face in an attempt to clear away the corn debris.
It wasn't later that night that she truly got to thinking… and thanking. She was thanking God and the universe for so many things. It was hard for her to believe that life was really as good as it was. Past experience brought a cloud of worry that something was bound to go wrong, but in the midst of it all she wanted nothing more than to enjoy every moment.
"Hey…" Garrett softly got her attention from where she was sitting on the sofa. She looked up to find him holding two cups of tea, offering her one.
"Thank you…" Alexis smiled as she sipped the hot liquid and took comfort in the company that had now taken a seat beside her. As his arm wrapped around her, she settled comfortably into his shoulder. "What a beautiful day…"
"It certainly was." He agreed, kissing the top of her head softly.
"Thank you for dinner. Molly was right, it was perfect."
"I don't think it was the dinner as much as the company…"
"It felt right," She turned to meet his eyes, "This feels right."
Garrett smiled before leaning closer to meet their lips, prompting Alexis to adjust her seat to deepen it.
"Gumma? 'Tory?"
They both stopped short and couldn't help but chuckle, feeling like they were just caught red handed. Alexis turned towards the top of the stairs where Danny was standing in his pajamas, pacifier in his mouth, blanket in one hand and a storybook in the other.
"Of course, baby… come over here with Papa and me…" Alexis held out her arms as Danny toddled over to the sofa, looking at Garrett curiously.
"Papa 'tory?" He asked as Alexis sat him between them, with a kiss to his temple.
"Let me see that one…" Garrett accepted the green book that was held out to him, "'Goodnight Moon'. This is your favorite, huh?" He smiled when Danny nodded sleepily as Alexis brushed her hand through his hair.
"Do you want Papa to read it?" She watched as Danny looked carefully between the two of them before resting on her.
"My gumma wead…" Danny replied sleepily as he laid his head against her shoulder.
"Okay, I'll read it…" Alexis met Garrett's eyes with a soft smile in her own as she accepted the book from him and rested her reading glasses on the end of her nose, "Let's see here… In the great green room, there is a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon… "
Her voice was soft and almost melodic as she read their grandson his favorite bedtime story. He watched her… like he had watched her so many times before. But this time it was different. There was no tension, no feelings of impending doom overhead; things were falling into place exactly the way they needed to be. It wasn't going to be easy, and there still were so many outside factors that were standing in their way, but now, in that moment, it was just how it was- perfect. She glanced up at him again, her eyes sparkling in the dim light of the living room before she shifted them back to the picture book in her hands.
"…goodnight bears, goodnight chairs… see the little bears there?" She smiled as Danny nodded and pointed to the picture on the page, "Goodnight kittens and goodnight mittens…"
Sam emerged from the hallway in search of her son and his book, only to stop short at the sight in front of her. Her three favorite people cuddled on the sofa together immersed in listening to her mother softly read the words to Danny's story. She couldn't stop the smile from filling her face or the tears spilling from her eyes. How could something so simple symbolize everything she had always wanted… everything that they had all always wanted. Resting against the wall, she crossed her arms and listened to the story, watching every glance and movement between her mother and father as they sat together with her son.
"…goodnight stars, goodnight air…"
"'tahr…" Danny pointed to the small star painted in the picture.
"Yes, there's the star…" Alexis smiled, shifting her eyes to meet Garrett's once again, "Goodnight noises everywhere…"
"All done," Little Danny held his hands palms up in sad realization.
"Yes, it's all done now…." Alexis kissed his head softly as he yawned, snuggling his head further into the crook of her arm.
"You know what that means…" Sam grinned as she descended the stairs, her parents and Danny turning at the sound of her voice. She took a seat on the coffee table in front of the three, "Bed time, little man."
"Bed time," Danny nodded, losing his pacifier as a yawn overtook his face, only to quickly replace it once he was able.
"You had a long day, huh," Alexis brushed his hair with her hand. Danny nodded again as he looked up at her before turning and wrapping his arms around her neck with his head nestled on her shoulder. "Aww… my sweet boy. I love you," closing her eyes, she savored the moment.
"Yub my gumma," He stayed still in his position as he responded quietly.
"Come on, baby…" Sam stood up, holding out her arms for her son, "Say goodnight to grandma and Papa…"
"Nuh-uh," Danny stayed put, his head and hands still firmly in place, "Gumma do."
Alexis smiled to her daughter, "You want me to tuck you in?"
"Yeah, gumma do."
"Okay, come on." She stood up carefully, Danny never lifting his head or breaking his grasp. She turned him to the view of his mother.
"I'll be in soon, okay?" Sam watched him nod and kissed his head.
"Goodnight, Danny." Garrett smiled to Danny who's eyes widened to meet him.
"'nite Papa."
Sam and Garrett watched Alexis and Danny round the corner to the back hallway, before turning to each other, "I'm sorry Danny interrupted…"
"Interrupted?" Her father protested, motioning for Sam to sit down ,"Not at all. It was my pleasure to hear 'Goodnight Moon' in the style of Alexis Davis."
"Well, in that case…" Sam laughed, "You guys looked pretty good sitting here… together again."
"It felt pretty good…" Garrett winked, "So how are you doing?"
"I'm fine," She nodded.
"You sure about that?"
"Yeah, I am." She couldn't help but smile.
"Because you know you can always talk to me… about anything."
"I know…" Sam smiled, "I'm so grateful for that. I hope you know that…"
"I do…"
"I mean," Fresh tears began to sting her eyes, "I hope you know how much it means to me that you are here. That you are so open… so willing to be my dad."
"Sam, I can't even begin to tell you what it means to me to be a part of yours and Daniel's life…" He wipes his eye, "It means everything."
"To me too," She grasps his hand, smiling through her tears.
"I never thought that I would be blessed with something so wonderful at this time in my life. It's a miracle.. that I don't deserve… but I cherish it. I will never, ever take you for granted. I promise you that."
"Thank you."
Alexis stopped short of her re-entry at the sight of Sam and Garrett embracing. She could try to hold back her tears, but what good would that do, anyway… instead she will let them flow. Having just laid her precious grandson to bed after spending the most amazing night with her family, seeing Sam and her father together was the cherry on top of the cake. Life is good, if you just let it. If you just follow your heart.
The End.