"I thought you wouldn't show up."

Jane's words breaking the silence brought Striker out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, well, I..." I missed you. "I was curious and I wanted to make sure ye were okay."

"I got by on my own before you came back, I can get by now." was the curt reply. That's his Jane, alright. Indomitable and strong.

Striker glanced at his wife's swollen abdomen. He was tempted to touch it, but he wasn't sure Jane would allow it after...

At last, they were called into the doctor's office. Jane was asked to lay down on a recliner while the doc lifted her blouse to expose her pregnant belly. Striker barely repressed the urge to snap at the guy for touching his woman; the guy was just doing his job, after all.

The doctor he placed the scanner on Jane's abdomen, showing the fuzzy image of an impling tucked inside her womb in a fetal position. "And here he is!"

Something in Striker changed as he saw the faint shape of his child on the screen. He was almost mesmerized by the sight of the impling squirming, he even seemed to be sucking on his thumb.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" he found himself asking.

"Let me see..." the doctor moved the device a little. "Congratulations, you're having a little boy!"

A boy... Striker recalled the time Jane asked him if he'd prefer a boy or a girl. He'd told her he would rather have a son he could teach how to hunt, wrestle and handle a gun. And here he was, watching his son growing in the womb of the woman he loved.

The look on Jane's face as she saw the tiny life growing inside her warmed his heart. There was a loving smile on her face as a tear trickled down her cheek. Striker was tempted to hold her hand, but refrained from doing so for fear of rejection.

As they left the doctor's office, Striker didn't know what to say. But he was desperate to be with Jane for as long as possible after months of being away from her. Eventually, he spoke the first thing that came into his mind.

"Well, that was weird." Striker mentally smacked his forehead, especially when Jane raised an eyebrow at him. "Not the bad kind of weird! I mean, it's the first time I've been to an ultrasound." He half-expected Jane to snap at him, but she merely sighed.

"I know. I wasn't sure of what to expect, honestly, but..." she stroked her abdomen. "It was worth it."

"So, is everythin' okay? I can accompany you home if you wish."

"It's not necessary, I live nearby. But thanks for the offer."

"Jane!" Striker reached out his hand as she began to walk away. She turned back to look at him. Striker gulped the lump in his throat. "I... Ye look beautiful with the bun in the oven."

"So it's no longer a 'thing'?" Jane retorted dryly.

He gave his wife a pleading look. "Jane, please. Aren't ye happy to see me? At least one tiny bit?"

Jane's frown softened. "... I want to be, but whenever I look at you I can only remember the last thing you said to me."

"Doll, I... I didn't mean..."

"But you did. You can't hurt someone's feelings and then expect a mere apology to fix the damage."

"Jane, just... Let me..." Striker took a deep breath, eyes closed shut. "There's... somethin' I want to show you." Jane raised an eyebrow at him. Striker took a deep breath. "Please, Jane. Just give me one chance to make things right, just one. If ye still don't want to see my face, I promise ya I'll leave ye alone..." Tentatively, he reached out a pleading hand. "...Do ye trust me?"

Neither moved for a good while. Jane just stared at his outstretched hand. For a moment, he feared she would turn him down. After a few minutes of silence, she squeezed his hand.

"Yes."

Striker placed a fresh bouquet of flowers at the tree's feet. The spot where his son had been born, and where he'd buried his wife. The place hadn't changed that much since the last time he was here.

"Happy anniversary, love."

A small, chubby pair of hands pulled onto his scarf. Striker looked down. Jake was looking up at him with curious eyes, gurgling adorably. It almost seemed like he was asking what they were doing. He tried crawling off his lap to grab the flowers on the grave.

Smiling, Striker shifted Jake so that he was sitting on his legs. "Look, pup. This is where yer mama... gave ye to me. Today's a very special day for her and daddy. It's when we tied the knot, ya know..."

Jake wasn't really paying attention. He was distracted by the tiny bubbles he was blowing with his saliva. Striker chuckled.

"Our boy has certainly grown since the last time he was here, hasn't he? He's quite the lil' rascal." he whispered as if he were talking to Jane. "Gave me quite the fright a few weeks ago. He nearly got trampled by a cow while chasin' a butterfly..." he paused, imagining his wife lashing out at him for being so careless. Oddly, the image brought a small smile to his face. "Aye, I know, I should've been more careful, love. On the bright side, thanks to Jake I got a new job..."

Sometimes he wondered if Jane could actually hear him from... whenever she was, or if she was actually somewhere. The mind and soul that made up his beloved wife had left the physical world for realms beyond and unknown? Or had it just faded away the moment she exhaled her last breath? Nobody's ever really wondered what happened to Imps when they died.

Jake's gurgles brought him out of his thoughts. The impling was curiously running his hands along his guitar, giggling whenever he drummed a string.

"Be careful, pup." Striker chided gently as he picked up the guitar, wrapping his tail around Jake's waist. "Ye don't wanna snap one of the strings."

Jake responded with a raspberry as he began gumming on his father's tail.

Closing his eyes, Striker began to play.