laplandgurl - The evil plot bunnies of doom may well be the death of me! I'm convinced my brain is going to go into meltdown! And mischief is good!

demolished-soul - I have a feeling Louie's not going to be mentioned in this season - which is a shame! You're right they shouldn't forget about him! I'm happy she's out too! It was beginning to get to me!

Thoren - That was a very excitable repsonse, lol, but I'm glad you're happy!

sparkyCSI - I am about to watch it! Tay as maternal - maybe she'll get the mother role, but I'm glad the rewrite worked!

Madison Bellows - Maybe, but there is definate fluff in this one. I almost impressed myself (and I'm my worst critic!)

Aphina - Now that's an image - Flack Snr. in a headlock! I almost wish I could think of a way to get that in! She has matured, that's true. I'm beginning to be able to see her with kids - which means an end is looking promising!

meadow567 - If he turns out to be a nice guy... I dunno what I'll do. But he's probably never going to be mentioned. Heck, Louie was in an episode and we still don't know if he's alive, so Flack Snr who's been mentioned on a bio...?

RK9 - Hello Seymour! I have Happy Feet images in my head now! Not holidays - just weird things going on whereby venting in writing is much needed! But no, no complaining (even if I don't update for a couple of days now!)

Mauveine - I admit, it was something that came to me at the last minute - I was trying to work that out for a while!! But here's some much needed fluff!

As promised... fluff... and yes, it's been due! Mucho thanks to my beta!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 171: I believe that life is giving back to you what you sacrifice

Taylor stood in the doorway staring down at the child sleeping on the couch.

'You alright?' Flack asked her as his hands snaked around her waist.

Taylor shook her head, and then nodded. 'I am, but she's not,' she told him, nodding her head in Cordelia's direction. 'She can't stay sleeping on the sofa. It's not healthy for her.'

Flack looked over her shoulder at the girl who was curled up beneath the covers. 'I know,' he told her. 'But what do you suggest?'

Taylor stared intently, watching her chest rise and fall with the soft snoring. 'Alex said he had something.'

Flack frowned. 'Your editor?'

Taylor nodded. 'Apparently his nephew lived in there. He promised it would be rent controlled.'

'Is this the same place that was also burnt out in a fire?'

Taylor nodded. 'Yeah, but he also said we could have it if we wanted it.'

Flack gave the sleeping child one last look and nodded. 'Let's have a look.'

As soon as Cordelia was at school, Flack and Taylor went to view the house on the Upper East Side. From the outside, it was a perfectly charming brownstone. Inside was another story. Aside from the fact it was clear no one had lived in it for a good ten years, it was also a mess. The living room was in the worst state.

It seemed that the fire had originated from that room, as it had the worst damage. The dining room and the kitchen, also on the ground floor weren't fairing in any better state. Upstairs, although the second bedroom was in a reasonable state, the master bedroom was completely burnt out.

Taylor looked around the place and sighed. 'We may as well stay in my apartment.'

Flack looked around. 'Tay, you have no chance in hell of buying that property. Besides, this place is dirt cheap.'

Taylor nodded, staring at the charred remains of the curtains. 'That's because this place needs a fortune spending on it to do it up.'

'But it would be yours at the end of it.'

'Don, I can't let a child stay here,' she told him, sadly.

'Look, structurally, it only needs the floor boards replacing in the master bedroom. The rest is cosmetic. So long as we do her bedroom first, somewhere she can retreat to, Cordy will be fine.'

Taylor looked around at the ruin of a house. 'If nothing else, it's too big.'

'It doesn't matter if the place is too big,' Flack told her. 'Besides, you said Alex would keep this place rent controlled. More importantly, it comes with the option to buy.'

Taylor looked around the shell of a living room and sighed. 'It's beyond too big, Don. We don't even need four bedrooms.'

'Sure we do,' Flack shrugged.

Taylor frowned. 'One for us, one for a study. That's, therefore, two too many.'

'And what about Cordelia?'

'She will be gone in a few months,' Taylor pointed out.

'What about until then? And what happens if something happens before then, and we end up with Cordelia for longer?'

Taylor sighed. 'Fine. Three bedrooms. But we still don't need a fourth.'

'What about children? Or are you saying you'd give up your office for a nursery.'

'Of course I'm not going to give up my office,' Taylor told him, slightly outraged.

Flack grinned. 'So what are you suggesting? Giving up working?'

Taylor continued to glare at him. 'I am not giving up my job! It can go in the fourth bedroom.'

'Do we really need a fourth bedroom?' Flack asked, looking around. 'It would be a little big.'

'Well, where else would you expect a baby to go?' Taylor asked him. 'I'm telling you, we need four bedrooms.'

'What about this place?' Flack shrugged.

'This place is perfect,' Taylor snapped.

'Good,' Flack told her with a smile.

Taylor glared at him, then slowly her forehead crinkled into a frown. 'Hey!' she objected. 'You just tricked me.'

Flack grinned.

'You can't do that!' Taylor declared. 'It's not fair.'

'Do you want this place?' he asked.

Taylor looked around the living room. The wallpaper was hanging off the walls, the carpet was growing a new life force from where the fire hoses had leaked, the ceiling had caved in somewhat, and the wood fire looked like a carbon monoxide health hazard – and it was still one of the better rooms in the house. She nodded. 'Yeah.'

Flack wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently. 'I love you.'

'I love you too,' she said softly, frowning slightly. 'Are we really going to do this?'

Flack nodded. 'We sure are.'

By early evening, the three of them were seated in Flack's living room, playing Scrabble. Taylor had phoned Alex and he had been more than happy to agree to them renting the house, with the option of buying.

Taylor returned from the bedroom and seated herself on the couch opposite Flack who was watching her from the floor.

'She's asleep,' Taylor told him.

Flack smiled. 'I think we wore her out.'

'It's only Scrabble,' Taylor responded.

'To you, maybe, but she's a less than a quarter of your age – and she was giving it a damn good attempt to beat you at it.'

Taylor grinned. 'She's gonna beat me one day.' She glanced down at the letters in front of her. 'You, on the other hand… not so much.' She picked her pieces up and placed them on the board. 'QUINTET. Double word score.'

Flack looked up at her. 'Yeah, and I can't wait until the day she whoops your ass.'

Taylor grinned. 'She's gonna beat me long before you are.'

Flack smiled and placed his pieces on the board. 'Wanna bet? That's a triple word score.'

'Triple-score word? Let's see what word you've been making up this time.' She glanced down at the board. 'MARRYME? That's not a word,' she frowned.

'Sure it is.'

Taylor reached for the dictionary. 'Let's see than, shall we? M… A…' She stopped leafing through the book and looked at Flack. 'Oh…' she trailed off as Flack dropped onto one knee. 'Oh.'

'Marry me,' he said, simply, producing a small velvet box from his pocket.

'Me?' Taylor squeaked.

'No,' said Flack rolling his eyes slightly. 'I meant the person over there.'

Taylor started to turn, but he grabbed her hand, slipping a ring on. Taylor brought it up and stared at it – her breath caught in her throat. It was beautiful. White gold, with a large, but subtle, oval ruby, and a smaller diamond on each side.

'You want to give me an answer because I think the carpet might be trying to eat me,' Flack asked.

Taylor swallowed suddenly realizing that a) she hadn't actually exhaled, and b) that he had been waiting a while. She dropped to her knees. 'Yes.' She told him happily, placing a hand on either cheek and kissing him. 'Oh God, yes.'

'You do realize this comes with a condition, don't you,' Flack told her softly.

Taylor leant back and stared at him. 'What kind of condition.'

'You have to talk to me.'

'I do,' she started.

'No,' Flack told her, shaking his head. 'You don't. You bottle it all in. And it's not healthy, Taylor. If nothing else, you're gonna end up getting arrested again, and I'm not sure if I can handle that a second time.'

Taylor stared intently into his earnest blue eyes. 'Don, I-'

'Taylor, I love you. I do. But you have to talk to me. I don't care how bad the news is. Or how good it is.'

Taylor glanced down at the sparkling ring before looking up at Flack. 'What about your parents?' she asked, regretting it before the words had even passed her lips. 'What about your father? I'm not exactly on his top ten list. Unless it's the ten most wanted.'

'Taylor, this is about you and me, not you, me and my father.' He pulled her down onto the floor next to him, the scrabble board sent flying. 'Not tonight, anyway.'

Taylor awoke long before Flack did with a pain in her neck. Having allowed Cordelia to sleep in Flack's bed, the only other option had been the floor or the couch.

She groaned inwardly as she stretched. Mid stretch, she paused, spotting the ring glinting at her in the morning light. Slowly, she sat herself upright, looking at the ring. 'Holy crap,' she muttered. She swiveled and glanced down at Flack who was lying on his side, his hand already subconsciously going for the now cooling spot she had just been laying.

He poked an eye open and looked sleepily at her. 'You're not about to change your mind, are you?' he asked, his voice still gravelly from the sleep.

Taylor shook her head, a great smile on her lips. 'I would, but there's a slight problem.'

Flack propped himself onto his shoulder looking serious. 'What?'

Taylor shrugged. 'Kinda love ya too much.'

'Taylor Nicole Turner!' Flack mock exclaimed. 'That almost sounded sappy.'

'Yeah,' Taylor agreed, 'but you love me that much I can get away with it.' She leant over and kissed his forehead. 'Anyway, we should be getting up.'

Flack stared at her in surprise. 'Firstly, it's gotta be 5 in the morning, secondly, it's gotta be 5 in the morning,' he told her. 'You don't do mornings.'

'No, and I didn't think I'd be doing parenting skills either,' she informed him. 'But I am not about to be responsible for scarring a seven year old when she walks out of your bedroom and catches us lying on the floor naked.'

Flack groaned. 'You may have a point, but that doesn't mean I'm going to like it.'

Taylor shrugged. 'Get used to it,' she told him, breaking into a huge grin. 'And if you excuse me, I have to call my best friend.'

'I don't think Lindsay is gonna appreciate you calling her at this time.'

Taylor shook her head. 'Actually, I was talking about Maddy. And I'm not sure if ghosts need to sleep.'

Does this make y'all happy? And it's gonna stay nice and mellow for a couple of chapters for y'all too!

Okay, so Saturday is the Grand National - oh, the joy, and Sunday will be spent in bed sleeping because I am the mug working 10pm until 1pm Monday (the mug that volunteered), which means the next update will probably be Monday evening if I haven't collapsed, otherwise, Tuesday!