Rifiuto: Non Miriena

"I don't understand." Jo pulled away, brushing the tears quickly from her cheeks. "First... first this shows us various points in our pasts, and now it... it's showing us our... our future? A... a future we... we should have had in my timeline..." She took a deep breath. "Why is it doing this to us? Me?"

"I don't know." He whispered, reaching out to rub her back, but she pulled away.

"It... it doesn't make any sense... why..."

"Morning, Mommy!"

"Morning my darlings... what are you doing?"

"Daddy's making pancakes!" She nodded, eyes wide in shock. "We're helping!"

"I can tell."

The kitchen was an absolute mess; every available inch of counterspace was covered in pancake batter and grease, in spilled flour, milk dripped and puddled on the floor. The sink was stacked miles high with plates and bowls, and pancake batter coated spoons and forks. Zane's black hair was coated in flour, and the kids slipped on the sticky floor as they rushed towards Jo and threw their arms around her legs.

Jo choked out a sob, covering her mouth with her hand as tears began to slip down her cheeks. Slowly, Zane went to her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"You... let Britta and Colin help make breakfast?" She asked, scooping her young son into her arms and going to her husband. He sighed, and reached out, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"We wanted to help Daddy make breakfast for you, Mommy." Colin piped up, laying his head on Jo's shoulder. The boy looked to be about eight or so, a couple years younger than the girl, and he wrapped his slender arms around Jo's neck, his messy black hair falling into his beautiful blue eyes. Jo sighed, pressing a kiss to her son's forehead.

"Well thank you, baby. But... maybe you should have let Daddy make breakfast by himself."

"But we wanted to help. Daddy said we could." Zane shook his head, sending flour everywhere.

"Did he now?" She asked, turning her dark eyes to her husband. A blush appeared over Zane's cheeks, and he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "Zane-"

"They wanted to help make Mother's Day special for you." She reached up, caressing his cheek.

"Oh Zane, Mother's Day will be special, no matter what you do for me. Because it's you and kids that are making it special."

Jo turned back to Zane, who reached up, brushing away her tears. She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "This doesn't make any sense, Zane!"

"I know, I know, okay? I know this doesn't make sense, okay? I know, and I wish I could fix it, but right now, we can't. We just have to let Carter and Allison and Fargo and Henry and the others work on it. That's all we can do."

"Why are we here, Zane? What did we do to end up here?" She reached up, hastily brushing a wayward strand of hair behind her ear before turning back to the image.

"We got you something, Mommy!"

"Really?" She knelt down, taking the gift from her daughter before taking a seat at the dining room table. The box was wrapped in yellow and green wrapping paper, with pink, white and purple ribbons, and topped with a folded piece of paper. After a moment, she removed the paper and unfolded it. "Oh, thank you, darlings."

"We made the card and we wrapped it!" Colin said from his perch on her lap.

"I can see that. Thank you, you both did a wonderful job!" She set the homemade card down, and then turned to the present. Slowly, she unwrapped it, pushing the wrapping paper and ribbons aside before lifting the lid. "Oh my God..."

Nestled inside the tissue, sat a beautiful handcarved jewelry box, with a simple rose carved into the lid. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she looked up at Zane.

"Do you like it, Mommy?" Britta asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Jo turned tear-filled eyes to her daughter.

"I love it, baby. Thank you. Where did you find it?"

"Davie found it in a small bazaar in Barcelona for me. I remember you'd told me about your mom having one, and how it'd been destroyed in the fire that burned down your house in Montreal when you were six. You said it was the one possession your mom owned that she was going to pass onto you; she died not long after you turned eight. So, I asked Davie to look into it back in Spain; we got lucky." She turned to stare at her husband; he leaned down, pressing a kiss to her lips.

"Thank you, babe."

"You're welcome." Colin slid off his mother's lap, and Zane gently steered them towards the bathroom. "Go wash up for breakfast." Once they were gone, Zane took a seat next to Jo, reaching out to take her hand. "You're happy?" She cocked her head.

"Of course I'm happy, babe, why wouldn't I be?" He shrugged.

"Just curious." She got up, climbing into his lap; she wrapped an arm around his neck, staring into his eyes.

"Curious?" She asked, shrugging. "What are you thinking about, babe? You can tell me." He sighed.

"I just... are you sure you're happy?"

"Zane-"

"I... I know about your... other family, and I just... just wanted to make sure you don't regret... us." She rolled her eyes, climbing to her feet.

"Zane, I was basically forced to divorce my husband when they brought me down here. I didn't have a choice; but I love you, and I love the life we have and I love Britta and Colin, and... yes, a part of me loves Evan and Nessa, I will always love Evan and Nessa, but I didn't have a choice. I lost the man I loved, but... but I found another that loved me." He gave her a soft smile as she took a seat beside him before leaning over and capturing her lips in his.

Jo turned to look at Zane. He took a deep breath. "Jo, I'm so..." But her mouth on his cut him off, and he caught her as she threw herself at him, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her. The kiss was deep, passionate, searching, sharing all that they had been through, all that they had felt and experienced together. They could have a future, a life together, if she just gave them a chance; with each and every spark, they'd been shown the way their lives could go, if they just gave in, and let that spark take hold.

Just as she pulled away, just as she looked up into his face, she suddenly found herself alone; Zane was gone, fading before her very eyes. "Zane!"

He reached up to caress her cheek, whispering to her, his voice fading into the mist. "I love you, Jo."

"Zane!"