Phoenix

Chapter Twelve

The silent darkness of the night was fitting the devastation to come.

The deep, heartbreaking cry of a woman broke the tranquility the Rockies offered. The shadows of the gloomy place were getting longer, making it harder for a person to see. Della, who stood there looking over the edge of the cliff, pale as snow, her face full of anguish and suffering, thought her heart had stopped beating suddenly. Realization that her daughter was gone—just like that—again, brought the anguish that her life had broken into a thousand pieces again.

Her heartrending sob destroyed the silence of that desolate place. She pictured it again in her mind, like a film reel playing out in a widescreen projector: A daughter, only newly reunited with her birth mother, had slipped and rolled into the depths of the ravine, without her being able to do anything to stop it. Peggy... Her girl... her little girl... That baby she thought had died.

Peggy, who like the mythical Phoenix, had risen from the ashes of abandonment to find her very own family who loved her and wanted her. A brave girl who had faced a dark fate and a brutal situation and had chosen love now found herself plunged over the edge of a sheer cliff.

Della approached the edge of the ravine with her heart in her throat and her stomach in knots. Leaning over the edge, she strained to see toward the bottom of the precipice; hope dictated that she pray, and she fervently begged heaven to let her daughter still be alive.

It was all her fault. Della and Peggy had taken advantage of Michael micromanaging his security detail to run. For a while, the mother and daughter had silently celebrated their small triumph, but then reality set in. Della realized she wasn't familiar with the rocky terrain and the sheer drop-offs. She didn't know how far away help was, or how remote the cabin was situated. And it was at the moment of this revelation that Peggy took her tumble.

It hadn't taken Michael long to figure out Della and the little moppet were missing. But panic wasn't becoming. Unlike Della, Michael knew every square inch of his hidden retreat. Peggy and Della wouldn't get far and couldn't get to help regardless. And just as a satisfied smile curved his brutal features, a childlike scream shattered his thoughts and was immediately replaced by one released from the bowels of hell.

Michael's face turned pale. Della's scream didn't sound right. Even in his fantasies, he had been the one to control her pain, and in doing so, had never intended to take the life of her daughter. Not really. He was many things: monster, jealous man, vindictive ex-fiancé. But for all his ruthlessness, he was not a child-killer.

Meanwhile, Della had been running, keeping a tight grasp on her daughter's hand. But when she had to cross over a rocky outcropping she released Peggy's hand. Her little girl had stumbled and fallen to the bottom of the ravine. With the anguished cry of Peggy's "Mother!" still in her ears, she heard her child as she fell and rolled into the dark abyss.

Her girl, her baby, asking for help.

Della knew her life would be worthless, an absolute hell spent reliving the moment, if she couldn't reach her baby. Dark thoughts, like the shadows around her, engulfed her mind even as she crawled to the edge where Peggy had rolled off. I can't, and I wouldn't want to, go on with this miserable life, she confessed to herself. No one should have to endure this kind of pain! If Peggy is dead, I don't want to have a life filled with suffering, and I don't want Perry to, either.

"Peggy? Peggy! This is your Mother! Can you answer me?" she called out, then waited for the answer.

Silence.

Her thoughts shifted to Perry. She adored him. Loved him with every fiber of her soul. He, with the big heart and deeper feelings. She loved working with him, watching him hunt for answers tirelessly for their clients, even to the point of personal neglect. And she had fallen hard for him. The moment wasn't clear in her mind, but it hadn't been right away. She wasn't that kind of silly woman. The surprise was that this wonderful man with the dark blue eyes and sharp wit had fallen for her.

He doesn't serve to live next to an empty and soulless woman, because that's my fate without Peggy.

Now Perry would have to learn to live without her. Maybe this would not be fair to him, but it would be less fair to have him beside a living dead woman.

"Perry isn't going to stop until he finds us," she whispered into the canyon, "But so help me God, he will find me with Peggy."

Steeling her determination, she said louder, "I'm coming, Peggy!"

Closing her eyes, Della took a deep breath. She offered a quick prayer to petition heaven for Perry to forgive her for the fatal decision, then let all the air out of her lungs.

Soon her prayer became a chant. "Forgive me. Forgive me, Perry! Forgive me."

She was about to take the last step toward the cliff when she suddenly felt a hand grabbing her arm and strongly yanking her back from the edge.

"Della! Are you crazy! Damn it! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Both his words and his unyielding grip on her arm served to send a nerve of pain through her body. She felt like a live wire was dancing under her skin.

"Michael Domenico! I demand you release me immediately. I said, release me! Can't you see I have to go to my little girl? All I want is to accompany her on her journey to eternity."

Michael Domenico couldn't understand what she was saying. Why would she try to go over the edge if . . . His anger churned. "No, no way I am going to let you go! I won't let you do anything foolish!"

Della began to contort and strain aggressively against his vice-like grip. She managed to draw away from him and locked her eyes on his. Her eyes, twin daggers of pain and hate, darkened. For the first time in his life, Michael felt a shudder. Della's soft hazel eyes, a bewitching combination of brown and green that had once looked at him with softness, fondness, even affection, were now darkened beyond the point of color.

"Damn! Damn it, man!" She yelled as she punched her clenched fists hard into his chest. "Everything is your fault! Your damned fault! You stole my newborn baby, made me believe she was dead! For nine long, insufferable years, in which my life was not life!" She inhaled sharply, then stormed on, "In addition, just when I thought I might be able to smile again, you resurface to renew my anguish, doubling down on your deceit and my despair. You confirmed Peggy really and truly is Perry's and my little girl—my baby!—and now, before my very eyes, she is dead. Again!"

Michael stared at her uncomprehendingly.

"I just want to go to her," Della whispered as almost all of her will drained from her body. "I want to be with my baby!"

He couldn't make sense of the scene. Della, heading for the edge of the abyss. The almost inhuman wail. The empty eyes. But if what she said was true—

He had to know. "Dead? Peggy is dead? Della, tell me! What happened?"

"What happened? You still dare to ask." Her voice was hoarse, drained of any genuine emotion beyond immediate response. "While we were running away, my girl tripped and fell down the ravine. I… I did not have time to catch her. All of this is your fault!"

He sighed. "You've told me that already. Get your head on straight and tell me the damned truth."

That seemed to do the trick. She was restored to her former, defiant self. Yes, she held the guilt and shame of not preventing the fall, but the man responsible was standing right in front of her.

"Tell you the truth. It's your damned fault, you sick sonofabitch! If you had not taken my daughter from me again to force me to be by your side. What do you have against Perry anyway? He is wonderful, patient, gentle, sweet and funny. He's generous, determined, selfless, and deep. He's so much more than either of us. But he loves me. And he loves his little girl."

Michael didn't want to hear her testimony about Perry. He seethed inwardly, but mentally he knew she spoke the truth. He was jealous of her great love. And jealous of the man she described.

"It's alright now, Michael. You've done your worst. Peggy is gone. She should be here, she should be alive, but. . . . Now you can congratulate yourself on a job, a revenge well done. I have nothing left for you to take. It's completed. You achieved your goal! And to culminate your work, very soon I will keep her company."

"Della, NO! You cannot do this! Oh, mia bella ragazza! I am sorry, please forgive me! I did not want this to happen, I swear I did not! I never wanted anything bad to happen to Peggy."

"You're a liar," Della told him bluntly. Slowly a bitter smile worked its way to the surface. "Michael Domenico, when did you become such a cynical and despicable man? If you really didn't want this, you would never have taken my baby away from me!"

"Della! You must understand. I was blinded by pain and jealousy. How do you think it felt, on the day that we were supposed to be celebrating our love together in front of our families and friends, I found myself at the altar with a token letter explaining your decision?" He was pleading now, no longer lashing out, just desperately trying to make her understand. "You, the only woman I have ever loved, the one woman whom I chose to be my wife and the future mother of my children, suddenly decided—without talking to me at all!—at the church with no explanations for our families and guests. My god, Della, you didn't even have the courage to face me and tell me you didn't love me anymore." He sucked in air, then finished with a growl, "You did manage to write me a letter."

Suddenly, Michael felt as if a bucket of ice water hit him. He shook himself awake, much like Rip Van Winkle after such a long nap. Nausea was creeping up on him, and he knew instinctively the only way to end it was to purge himself of the malignant force within him. He was going to explain, even if it made Della throw him over the ledge of the cliff.

"Della! I swear I wanted to turn the page, and let you be happy. And for a while, your separation from me worked. Then came a trip to California, and a chance glance at you with your new boss. I have eyes, and it took seconds to see how you adored him. Therefore, I didn't approach. I just. . . did research. I learned all about Perry Mason. And I tucked that information away. A few years later, I again—completely by chance—saw the two of you walking side by side. I was floored! You were pregnant! My blood started to boil and a demon took over me. I didn't want to see you happy, unless you were by my side!

"From that moment, I began to devise my plan to steal your baby. I would leave him/her in an orphanage on the other side of the country and you would never know if he/she was alive or dead. That would be your penance! It even seemed like Providence was on my side when a baby girl was born on the same day, at the same time, but did not live save for a few hours. Then my man had the excellent idea to exchange the babies. This being the best solution, since this way the baby would have parents, while you and Mason thought she had died. It would also stop you two from starting to look for her."

The rage had built inside Della as Michael had outlined in a flat tone how he had pulled off the switch of the newborns. Her voice was like shaken music as she retorted, "The best solution? How dare you hint at this! Tell me, how could changing my baby for a dead baby be a solution?"

"You can think the worst of me, that I am a despicable being. Yet you have to understand that though I wanted you and Mason to suffer, I did not want anything bad to happen to the girl. I wanted her to have a good life. After all, she is bone of your bone, Della. I just wanted that life for her to be spent away from the two of you."

Michael went on to explain how he had arranged to become the CEO of Peggy's father's business and how he had ingratiated himself so much that they named him as a Godfather. He also confessed he had kept his distance from Peggy because he didn't want to become attached to her.

"The little brat was so sweet and similar to you, Della, it was very difficult for me not to feel any kind of affection for her. Then, that terrible accident happened, where her parents lost their lives. Making my plans turn 180°. I was so relieved to learn that Peggy had not been with them. I confess that for a moment I was tempted for the little girl to come and live with me. Nevertheless, I quickly realized that this was not possible, since I was not in a position to take care of a girl of just three years. Therefore, I decided to send her to boarding school. After a few years, when she was old enough to fend for herself, I had plans to bring her to me in Chicago."

Around them, both the shadows were lengthening and a breeze was starting to bite. Yet Della, still longing to join her daughter in eternity, and Michael, still determined to clear his chest, plowed through the remainder of the hurt.

Michael shook his head. "There was so little left for this to happen! However, the little brat had to be as bold as her mother was! She could not keep calm in boarding school. She instead decided on her own to look for her family. Moreover, she had no better idea than to ask for help from none other than Perry Mason! The only person in this world that she was not supposed to know. When I found out about this, I was out of the country and could not get back as fast as I wanted. Therefore, I kept my men close to you and Mason to keep me informed of what was happening day by day. Everything seemed to be going smoothly! Jeffers had already decided to accept her as his granddaughter. Maybe I would not have her with me, but neither would you. It was almost a given that the old man would have sent her to Switzerland to study as he had done with her daughter. In addition, you two would never have seen her again. However, his murder made my plans change again. Even more so when Mason decided to take over the defense of his niece. Nevertheless, the icing on the cake was when you people decided to adopt Peggy. Therefore, I had to drop everything I was doing to quickly go back and stop this absurd adoption. Although my original idea was, just to stop you two from adopting her. You would never have to find out that the irony in all this would be that I, your old boyfriend, the one you had left standing at the altar, was the one who prevented you from adopting this girl. But the reality was that Peggy... the girl that you and Mason wanted to adopt, was your own daughter!"

Michael sighs, "But when I saw you again and held you so close, I realized that I never stopped loving you. That time had accentuated my love for you even more. Then, I also realized that in my hands I had the key for you to return to my side. That is why I decided to send you the letter telling you the whole truth; I knew that your love for your daughter would be stronger than your love for Mason." He breathed out the name of his rival with controlled venom. "And of course I wasn't wrong, was I? You dropped him faster than a sidewinder. Here you are, right in front of me."

Della ceased her struggle to stare into his eyes. She understood his logic, flawed, as it seemed. It sickened her, disgusted her, but she understood it. She had met his kind before, in Perry's office or in the line of an investigation. It was always someone else's fault their lives were in a tailspin. Always. Arguing didn't change things, any more than saying Peggy's name would bring her back to life. However, one thing was crystal-clear to Della: she would say her last piece, and let the pieces fall where they may.

"Tell me, Michael, what good did it do. If the only thing you have done with your supposed love is to make me live the greatest agony a mother can have, then bravo. Round of applause for the man with the stone-cold heart. While you danced over the grave of the daughter you made me think I had lost for nine long, painful years, did you think of my returning to your side, so you could comfort me, or were you thinking, 'I've shown her now!' And when Perry and I did meet Peggy—real daughter or no—and fell in love with her, you were ready for phase three of your plan."

"Della, let me—"

"Damn you, Michael Domenico! Is this your great love?" Della screamed as she glared at him with uncontrollable fury, sure that if she had a gun right now she would take the life of the man in front of her.

"Della, please forgive me! I know I have no forgiveness from God for what I did. But I am sorry, I am really sorry! I swear I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted Peggy to come to any harm." Michael pleaded, pulling her close and hugging her tight.

Della unsuccessfully tried to break away from Michael's tight embrace. She screamed and pushed him away, but he was stronger. Then he suddenly covered her mouth with his hand. In her desperation, she tried to bite him, but he pressed his hand over her mouth with more force. "Della, please... for once, shut up and listen!"

In that moment, in the distance, a small voice caught the wind and blew up toward them. It was faint, fragile even, but perfectly easy to understand.

"Mommy!"

XXXX XXXX XXXX

Perry's heart stopped suddenly when he heard the piercing scream of a woman in the distance. He had no doubt it belonged to his love, Della. The timbre, the emotion in it he knew as well as he knew her face. That was the same anguished cry she had given in the hospital that terrible day. At that moment, he swore to himself that nothing so bad as that would ever happen again. And yet…

And yet something bad had happened to one or both of them. He would end Michael Domenico, with his own hands if necessary, and nobody or nothing in this world could do anything to stop him.

It had not been long since he and Paul, along with the local police, had arrived at Michael's cabin in the mountains. It felt like he had found the haystack he needed to search and his magnet for finding the needle therein was the love he had for his girls. Even in this, he owed Della everything. Her cunning and planning had revealed the primitive location to them.

When Perry and Paul raided Michael Domenico's house with the police in Chicago, despair had seized the lawyer. They had rolled up on a completely uninhabited house, one in which the domestics were not to be found. The police had sidelined both Perry and Paul from searching for clues while they combed every corner of the mansion. However, the police became focused on the task at hand, and Perry and Paul took the chance to look for something, anything, on their own. The lawyer was very aware that Michael Domenico was capable of taking them anywhere in the world. To a place where they would find it increasingly difficult to find them.

Perry and Paul were checking room by room, until they came to one that looked like a little girl's bedroom. This one reminded Perry of the room Peggy had at the orphanage. Above her bed, there was a shelf with several dolls placed, but there was one that caught the attention of the perceptive lawyer. He realized that her beloved Maggie was there! The same doll Peggy was carrying in her arms the day she walked into his office for the first time. It was unusual for that doll to be there, since her place of honor was on the bed. In addition, Peggy would never leave her because she was her best friend, as she once told Della.

Suddenly, a hunch took hold on Perry and wouldn't release him. The only reason the doll would be there was because Della knew he would come looking for them.

"Della," he breathed, and the rest of his words remained unspoken as he quickly picked Maggie up and began to examine her carefully.

At that, a folded piece of paper loosened and slowly floated to the ground. Paul was a second away from lunging for it when Perry quickly picked it up. Unfolding it so they could read it together, Perry looked at the contents, saw Della's handwriting. The note read, "Canada mountains…"

XXXX XXXX XXXX

It took Paul only a few moments to find out Michael had a cabin in the mountains. Just as Della's clue said, it was located very close to the Canadian border. Leaving the note (but not Maggie) with the police, the two men boarded a chartered plane and caught a tailwind to the airstrip closest to the cabin. Even with that working for them, it was very late in the evening before they managed to reach the isolated cabin. By then, Perry and Paul can contacted the local authorities and, together with the deputy sheriff and his men, they breached the structure and overpowered Michael's two trusted men.

There was no trace of Della, Peggy, or that dastardly Michael Domenico. After questioning the ruffians, they were told the woman and her daughter had managed to escape and that their boss had gone after them.

I need to get some damned air, Perry confessed to himself. He knew it was madness to hike near the edge of the cliffs, but . . . if he stuck to the driveway and road, he wouldn't be putting himself or anyone else in danger. It was then that he had heard his wife's anguished cry. Now they were there in the middle of the mountains and in the darkness of the night, trying to find Della and Peggy before Michael managed to do them any further harm. As he got closer to where the scream originated, the great man's heart was racing faster and stronger.

Paul's eyes, long accustomed to viewing things in the night, noticed his friend's face was becoming harder and expressionless. Fearing the worst, that Perry would find something bad had happened to his two girls; Paul knew there would be no power on earth to stop him in his mission to finish off Michael Domenico with his own hands.

XXXX XXXX XXXX

Perry and Paul, equipped with flashlights, ran into the night toward the sound of loud weeping. When they reached the area, Della was there, standing very close to the precipice. Handing his light to Paul, Perry came to her, grasped both shoulders, and turned her toward him.

Della did not have time to react when Perry's lips crushed hers. "Della," he whispered in a fierce, possessive growl, "my love…my life…I thought I lost you!" He kissed her again and again as he gave her butterfly kisses all over her face. "Della, please tell me, where's Peggy? Where is our daughter?"

At that moment, Della's gaze drifted to the precipice. The mere thought of what had happened there made Perry's heart stop dead. "Della! I demand tell me what happened to Peggy. Where the hell is my daughter?"

"Perry—" Paul tried to cut in, but neither man nor wife were paying him the least bit of attention.

"Oh Perry! Peggy! My baby tripped and rolled down the ravine. We were making our escape from that—man—and I let go of her hand to grab a rock. She tripped at that moment. Without my even being able to do anything to help her!"

The guilt and anguish was fresh and visceral. Perry felt it, but was more determined to find facts than offer comfort.

"Peggy, my little one, did she roll down the ravine? So… our daughter… our daughter is ..."

"No! Don't say it! Or even think it!" Della quickly stopped him before he could finish his sentence. "Oh Perry! For a moment, I thought we had lost her! However, her guardian angel protected her. She managed to land on a cliff ledge. She is fine!"

He looked at her in amazement. "And Michael? Where the hell is he?"

Her look of joy changed to one of rage. "I heard a lot from Michael. His entire confession and motive. Everything. But as much as I wanted to take justice in my own hands, I was more interested in joining our girl in eternity." She dropped her eyes away from Perry's face. "I told you I was no angel."

"Della, don't—"

She shook her head, said clearly, "Peggy called out. So Michael managed to get down there, to try to get her up! But last night's rain made the earth loosen, causing the stones to become slick and faulty." She pointed to the place Michael descended. "There is no safe way to come up. Furthermore, the floor below them is also slowly giving way. Perry please! We need to upload them! That ledge, it's not going to hold out much longer!"

"Della, you need to remain calm. You alone can tell us what we need to do. I want to get our daughter out of there right away." Perry kissed her tenderly. "I'll go down and get her myself."

"No, you can't do that! Didn't you hear me? The ground is very loose. Before you came, Michael tried to ascend with Peggie on his back, but the earth detached and if not for prayer, they would have certainly fallen into the abyss." Della sighed, then finished, "The only thing left is for us to throw him a rope and for Michael to use it to climb up while you and Paul pull it up."

Perry nodded, "You're right. I would never risk Peggy's life like that." He glanced over at Paul for the first time. "We're going to need rope, Paul. Lots of it." Perry carefully approached the cliff and veered down, looking into nothing but darkness. "Domenico! This is Mason! Can you hear me?"

"DADDY!" The little girl's voice came before Domenico's answer. Due to the urgency of events, Perry had to put aside the emotion he felt, hearing his daughter call him daddy for the first time. His heart swelled with tenderness at the sweet yet simple moniker.

"Yes, Princess! I am... I'm your dad!" Perry knew instinctively his little girl was crying. He took a deep breath, steadying his voice so that his daughter wouldn't hear the concern in his voice. "Peggy, my girl, tell me, are you okay? You haven't hurt yourself?"

"Oh, Daddy, I'm fine!" she informed him with a laugh. Any fears she might have had in relation to him were lifted as soon as he assured her he was her Daddy. All her instincts about him were right. Mr. Mason—Daddy!—could be trusted. "But I'm scared, it's very dark here and I feel like the earth is falling on us."

At that, Michael interrupted. "Tender as this touching father-daughter scene is, Mason, the flat truth is, if you don't act fast, you two will never be able to hug each other!"

"Domenico, cast irony aside! Very soon, Paul Drake and I will get you both out of there. Then, you and I can settle our differences. Life is too precious to waste it quarreling when Peggy's life literally hangs in the balance."

Paul, huffing and panting from his job back to the cabin, shook his head. Quietly he brought Perry up to date on the rope situation.

"Michael, just now, Paul tells me one of police officers has gone looking for a rope in his patrol car. Due to the narrowness of the road, they had to leave the car a kilometer from here. It shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes."

Down below on the ledge, Michael Domenico took stock of the situation. So far, the only thing that had saved him and the Mason child was divine intervention. That was not going to work for a second time, was it?

"Damn, Mason! Don't you understand that there is no time to look for any rope! At any moment the floor below will give way and we will both be lost!" Right on cue, the earth and stones began to shift. "Mason! If you do not do something soon, you had better say goodbye to your beautiful daughter! The floor below us is not going to hold much longer."

"Paul, over here!"

The detective quickly approached the lawyer. "Perry, don't worry, they informed me that the officer is already on his way and will be here soon."

"Forget that, Paul! There is no time! The floor under them is giving way and soon everything is going to fall apart. I am going to try to slowly crawl as far as I can to the precipice. Then I will stretch out my arms to try to reach them. You hold my legs as tightly as you can." He got into position, then called down, "Domenico! Do you think you can lift Peggy up so I can pick her up and carry her up?"

"Yes, I think I can do it, it's not very high either."

"Fine! Therefore, when I count to three, you lift Peggy and I will catch her. You understand?"

"Of course! You're not the only smart man Della fell for." Michael responds, even in the dangerous situation he could not help but sting the lawyer.

Perry just snorted, unable to prevent his stomach from churning knowing that Della, his great love, was once in love with that man. "Well... here goes nothing." He took a breath of air and began to count: "One... two... THREE!" At the signal, Michael lifted Peggy up. Perry grabbed her and quickly lifted her up, all just before that half of the floor below Michael collapsed, leaving him almost on the brink of the abyss.

Della ran quickly to grab and hug her daughter. After taking a quick look at Peggy and realizing that everything was fine with her, Perry reached back to help Domenico up. "Okay Domenico! Your turn. Just take my hand and I'll pull you to safety. Then and only then will you be able to settle your score.

Michael Domenico started to reach for his proffered hand, then hesitated. "I'll be able to settle my score. What about your score, Mason? Don't you want to settle your account with me?"

"Take my hand, Michael," Perry gritted. "You're running out of time!"

"I don't get you. I took your daughter, robbed you of your wife by cutting off all her emotions, and made you a shell of a man. Why aren't you going to thrash me?"

"What would that prove?" Perry stretched himself even further. "Now, no more questions. Just take my damned hand."

Domenico reached for Perry's hand and clung to it as the rest of the shelf gave way. "Now's your chance, Mason. No one would call this murder. I won't stand trial, you know. You can't prove anything."

Perry grimaced with the effort of holding him. "Paul, start pulling me back. I have him."

"No, not even for the kidnapping charge," Domenico blathered on. "No justice for you or me until we meet again in hell."

Paul, who had stopped pulling on Perry's legs to rest from the exertion, stared as Michael Domenico deliberately tried to swing himself, drawing Perry closer to the edge.

"Mason, I'm afraid you'll have to wait, or die trying. If you try to lift me, you and I will fall off the cliff. And while I'd like to take you with me, I know Della and Peggy need you."

"No, Michael! Please, let him try to help you!" Della's voice carried from behind Perry.

"Della, I'm really sorry! Now just be happy and please forgive me! I love you, my bella ragazza!"

"Michael! NOOOO!" Perry yelled before Paul violently hauled him backwards to safety. He stood, silent, as he took his daughter in his arms and draped an arm around his wife's waist.

"Is it over, Perry?"

He nodded, still not trusting his voice. Peggy clung to his neck and soft, wet tears fell on his collar.

"Everything is fine, just fine, Della. He made what peace he could. That was his choice. We'll honor his sacrifice and heroism in saving Peggy. Let's get back to the cabin and some warmth. Tomorrow there will be things to do, papers to sign, comments to make. Nevertheless, for now… It is time for us to return and be the family we were always meant to be."