"We need to talk to him," I muffle through the towel as I try my hair.

"Weshey?" he mutters through a mouth full of toothpaste. Spitting it out, he repeats, "Wesley?"

"Mmmm," I agree. "I was thinking…"

He regards me in the mirror. "We have to talk to him about Jack… about what's happened."

"He's barely said a word about it…" He moves to reason with me, but I hold up my hands and allow myself to finish. "I know we haven't had much time to discuss it, but what happened was, is, inconceivable and I don't…." I fumble, grappling with what I want to say. "Jean Luc I don't know what to say to him."

He shakes his head as he turns to me. "There's nothing that we can say, Beverly. Nothing's that we do is going to erase what happened." He looks down, defeated. "I killed Jack right in front of him…"

"Jean Luc," I move in and lay a comforting kiss on his temple as I cradle his jaw. "That couldn't be helped."

"I know," he looks up. "But you're right, we should say something."

/

"Marie?" The downstairs is completely deserted. We went to check on Saoirse and Aaron, but both cribs were empty. That's when I hear amid the stillness: laughter. It's coming from outside. I take his hand and we follow the direction of the sound. "Jean Luc! Beverly!" Marie looks up from Saoirse, whose face is so adorably, unceremoniously covered in crumbs and red, strawberry jam.

"Bon jour," Marie winks through a laugh at the state of Saoirse's face.

"Papa!" The little girl points with a smile to Jean Luc as she gets up from their picnic spot on the grass.

"Hi there, Kitten," he bends down and sweeps her into his arms. She's so sweet as she lays a kiss on his cheek, gracing him with the same crumbs that adorn her. "What's this, Kitten?" He wipes his cheek, tasting the sticky specks. "Is this," he smiles at her. "One of Marie's croissants?"

She just bobs her head up and down with a big grin. "Cussant!"

"What's all this?" I regard their picnic under the large willow tree. My eyes roam the large arbor. Weeping willow, that's what it's called. And you know, I couldn't think of a more apt adjective as it's leaves hang like tears frozen, suspended in a moment. I smile to myself as I remember Jean Luc telling me about it long before I ever saw it.

"It's been on our land since our family bought the land." He explained one night over a glass of vintage Picard.

"When was that?" I asked hazily, at that point feeling the effects of the remarkable merlot.

"Five generations ago," He looked up at the ceiling woozily. "Or was it six?"

"What's special about it, Jean Luc?" We'd finished work late and we were both off duty the next day. He'd asked me to share a bottle and I was too in love with him to say no. He looked handsome. Well, he always looks handsome… I remember the way that his uniform would cling to the right places and hang in others, only barely concealing the man underneath.

"That willow?" He asked prosaically as he beheld me with that same glance. "Well," I remember how wistfully he looked into his glass, as if it was a portal to the past. "It's the only place I remember my brother, my father, and I being truly happy. It's where father taught us to climb a tree…" He laughed. "Robert and I would climb for hours, pretending it was a fort or even a starship. It's the only place I remember…" He stopped to savor the feeling. "Having good memories of home."

"Well…" Marie begins, looking very satisfied.

"Renee suggested that we have a picnic for breakfast before he went to school. And," Robert signals towards the clear blue sky. "I couldn't have agreed more." He pauses, as if delicately savouring his next words. "Not too hot, non, and eh, not too cold," He regards Marie with a grin. "A perfect French summer morning."

"Indeed," she whispers back as a serene smile sets over her. I see it in her; I see it in the way she looks at Robert holding the little baby. Maybe one day.

Yes, indeed, I agree silently. For the moment I allow myself to abandon the worry and the angst as I close my eyes and luxuriate in what is truly a perfect morning. The knowledge of how hot it will grow in just a few hours heightens my regard as I allow the valley breeze to rustle through fluffily clean strands of long red. There's the smell that I love so much: the one that smells like some heavenly perfume. It smells like... lilacs. That's it. Lilacs, violets, lavender, and another faintly sweet source that I can't quite pinpoint. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was the grapes. But it's so distinctive that I can't say for sure.

I feel a tiny, soft finger on my hand. "Mama," she says. I open my eyes, "Yes Kitten." Nothing. She just smiles. I smooth a ringlet back from her tiny face, "I love you." To think I'd never see that face again, say those words, feel those tiny hands. The notion is strangling and leaves a knot in my throat.

"Jean Luc, Beverly," Marie breaks my abstraction before I can inflict more emotional tumult on myself. "Come. Sit. Eat." She motions to the well-worn blanket and laughs, "Before you both disappear with the breeze!"

I see Jean Luc scan the milieu; first back at the house, then the old willow, the vineyards, the barn, and the gardens. He's searching. "Robert," he hesitates. "Where is Wesley?"

"Papa," Saoirse distracts. "Down," she points.

"Veins, ma puce," Robert motions to her. "Wesley said he wanted to take a walk."

"He stayed with us for breakfast. He even went with Robert to take Renee to school, can you believe it?" Marie's smile is incomplete though. I sense there's something she's not telling me.

"What, Marie?" Is something wrong?

"There's a sadness in him, Beverly, that wasn't there the last time," she whispers.

I know. "Yes, well…"

A light, warm hand finds its way onto my arm. "Talk to him," she looks at Jean Luc. "He thinks the world of you." She adds with a warm smile. "He loves you very much."

I glance at my husband, who's wearing a bright pink blush that goes all the way to the tip of his head. "We'll talk to him. We were going to anyhow… but there's just so much…" he abashedly looks to Robert. "That we just don't know where to start."

Robert's rumble of laughter is riveting. "Well we learned that you have to at least start somewhere… or you'll end up in a pit of mud!"

I grin at the memory of Jean Luc telling me how he and his brother resolved over 20 years of differences in a mud fight! When I'd heard it, I didn't believe it. What's more, I couldn't believe that Jean Luc told me about it. Then, it had been so out of character. But now that I've seen the boyish side of him, I've come to realize how that particular incident was only a small expression of the whimsical, spontaneous person that he's shown himself to be.

"Oh!" Marie throws her hands up in amusement. "I remember that it took me weeks to get that mud out of the carpets!"

"Jean Luc, Beverly," Robert's voice grows serious and he stops bouncing Aaron on his knee. "You should be very proud of yourselves and Wesley for what you did. We saw it on the console this morning: formal investigations have been opened into the government, Starfleet, and even the Academy."

"That was all Wesley's doing," Jean Luc replies. "He figured the whole thing out with some help from our former crew members. He's…" A sudden panic overtakes him as he matches Robert's regard and reaches for my hand. "Robert, what time did Wesley go for that walk?"

The Picards are truly old-fashioned. And if Jean Luc's paper textbooks, exam papers, and lawnmower fixation aren't proof enough, I'm further reminded when Robert lifts his sleeve to reveal an antique watch. "Eh, I would say it's been an hour and a half at this point." He looks up. "Leave him, Jean Luc. You remember what you were like at that age…"

"I know," he sighs. "But this is different." I feel a tug on my hand as he rises, similarly encouraging me to do the same. "We'll be back."

Marie gives us a knowing nod, "Go." She shoos. "We're going to spoil the little ones some more!"

Thanks again, everyone! Your comments are so helpful.

Sasha: Thank you times a million for your lovely review. I will take that into consideration. I really, really appreciate it and will try to make it happen!