Okay, folks - time for a daily update. I'm working on writing some of the rest still, so it might slow down again, but given that you waited like 10 years for this...well, I hope that's alright. In one of the reviews I was asked if Kenzi and Nate had their wedding - honestly, I tried writing it and I just deleted it because I didn't like it. At this point I've probably deleted as much of this story as I've posted. Maybe it'll be a flashback one day - otherwise, yeah, they're married, why not lol.

Enjoy!

Bo worked late more than usual for the next two weeks. Although she came home seeming normal, albeit tired, Lauren felt her anxiety beginning to rise. When she asked Bo about her day, the answers seemed…clipped. Vague. Bo seemed to be running less. Lauren wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but she noticed it all the same.

Things won't change unless you change them, she told herself, sitting her in office on a damp Friday morning. If you aren't happy with the way things are, do something about it.

Okay, so what did she want to do about it?

I want to see her. She looked at the time. 2:30. Not too late for coffee, at least by Bo Dennis standards.

Before her resolve could change, she picked up her phone and dialed Bo's office number.

The phone rang and rang, until voicemail picked up. The menu gave her the option of leaving a message or of being transferred to Bo's administrative assistant. Lauren hit the button to be transferred to Helen.

"Hey, Helen, it's Lauren. Is Bo in court this afternoon?"

There was a pause on the line. "Bo isn't here," she replied after a moment.

Lauren felt confused. "Oh, okay. Did she have a meeting or something?"

Helen hesitated again and cleared her throat. "No, actually. She left early, I think about a half hour ago."

The confusion deepening into concern, Lauren felt her brain scrambling at this new information. "She…left early."

"Yes," Helen said, her voice sounding firmer. "She didn't mention where she was going, but she left around 2."

"Oh, um, okay," Lauren answered. "I guess I'll just try her cell then. Thanks." They bid their goodbyes and hung up.

Bo's cellphone rang loudly from her pocket. Scrabbling to get it, Bo pulled it out and saw her office number. She clicked to accept the call.

"Dennis," she said by way of greeting, even though she was fairly certain she would hear either Mae or Helen's voice on the other end.

"Lauren just called," Helen said, forgoing any greeting.

The sentence sent a chill down Bo's spine. "When?"

"Thirty seconds ago?" Helen answered. As she said it, Bo heard a beep on her line. She pulled the phone back and saw that Lauren was trying to call. "I told her you'd left. And that it wasn't a meeting. And that I didn't know where you were."

Bo felt an irritated groan rise from her. "Dammit, Helen, she's calling."

"Better face the music then. I told you I wouldn't lie."

Before she could answer, Helen hung up.

Taking a steadying breath, Bo accepted Lauren's call.

"Hey, babe," she said, hoping her voice sounded normal and bright, even as she scrambled to think of a plausible explanation for where she was.

"Hey, where are you? I just called your office but they said you left."

"Uh, yeah, I left a little bit ago, just wanted to get out for a bit, you know?" The answer sounded lame, and Bo rolled her eyes at herself even as she said it.

"Oh, okay, so are you home?"

Bo glanced at her surroundings. "Not yet," she answered. "Just running some errands. Soon, though."

"Oh. Okay," Lauren said. Bo could hear the apprehension in her voice. "I was just going to see if you wanted some coffee or something. Nothing big."

Bo glanced down at the clothes she had changed into when she left work, doing some mental calculations about how long she would need to change back. "Oh, that sounds nice, um, I could meet you in –"

"No, that's alright," Lauren cut her off. "You're busy. It's fine."

Bo hated herself for a second. Just remember why you're doing this, she told herself. "Okay, how about I meet you at the apartment around 4:30?"

She heard a slight breath of relief in Lauren's voice. "Okay. Yeah, that sounds perfect."

At 5:30, Lauren was on the couch, alone. She wasn't sure if she was angry, afraid, both… All she knew was that Bo had agreed to meet her an hour before, and she had yet to hear from her. She grabbed her phone and typed a quick message to Bo.

Hey, where are you?

The message showed as 'read' about a minute later. A few minutes passed before there was a reply, however.

Lost track of time, I'm so sorry. Can you come to the house?

Lauren was still, letting the message sink in. The tone seemed fine, but Bo was at the house? She felt a prickling fear as her mind went back to the night she had found Bo painting the hallway. She felt herself beginning to spiral. Quickly, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

Lauren pulled up at the house a short time later. Bo's car was parked in front, and Lauren could see lights inside glowing faintly. She paused for a moment, trying to mentally prepare herself for the worst. She surveyed the front door, and noticed that it looked like there was a mat in front of it. She didn't remember when they had put that there. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the car and started walking.

Before she could reach the doorknob, the door opened. Bo was standing behind it, a slightly sheepish look on her face. Lauren quickly began to assess her, trying to look into her eyes to gauge the situation. She noted that Bo was in jeans, not her work clothes, and it only added to Lauren's apprehension.

"I am so, so sorry," Bo said quickly. "I lost track of time, I meant to meet you at the apartment." Bo seemed…jittery? Nervous? The vibe did nothing to quell Lauren's fears, only added to her trepidation.

"What happened?" Lauren asked. "What's wrong?" She tried to keep her tone steady, but she could hear the anxiety creeping into it as her mind screamed no, NO! We were making progress, dammit! Things were better!

Bo was fidgeting, absently twisting her wedding ring on her finger. "What? Nothing. I just lost track of time," she answered. She hesitated for a moment and then seemed to suddenly realize Lauren was still standing outside. "Sorry, uh…sorry, why don't you come in," she said, stepping back to allow Lauren space to enter. There was an odd formality to Bo's voice, incongruous to the situation.

Lauren warily crossed into the house and allowed Bo to close it behind her.

Once inside, Lauren continued to look at Bo, trying to figure out what was going on. Bo didn't look haunted, she was relieved to see. She didn't have the absent, vague look that had dominated her features just a few short months ago. Still, she didn't look normal, per se, she looked…nervous was the only word that came to mind.

Bo was still, continuing to look back at Lauren. Anxiously, Lauren began to notice Bo's eyes darting around the room. Instinctively, Lauren followed her gaze.

For the first time since walking in, Lauren took notice of the entryway. She noted a small table they had purchased near the door, and rug spread on the floor. She saw a bowl for keys, and she saw a small mirror hung. The area looked…neat. Finished. The light fixture above her head was one of the ones they had picked out a few months before.

Lauren finished taking in the scene and returned her eyes to Bo, who was looking at her, waiting. "You finished the entryway?" Lauren asked.

Bo smiled. "Well…yeah, I did. But I did a little more than that."

"How much more?"

Bo spun the ring on her finger again. "Well, I…here, let me show you." She placed her hand lightly on the small of Lauren's back and began leading her through the house.

Lauren took a breath as she followed Bo. She could smell fresh paint and…food? She allowed Bo to lead her into the living room.

She took in the space around her, at the walls that were fully painted, the small touches that had been finished, the television already hung on the wall. There was no furniture in this room – they hadn't picked any of that out yet, Lauren realized, though she remembered they had almost picked a couch – but other small items were done. Pictures were hung. Bookshelves were arranged, though empty save for a few small decorative touches. Lauren took it in, her mind trying to calculate how long it would have taken to get the work accomplished. Before she could ask, she felt Bo's touch again, leading her towards the hallway.

The hallway was finished now, no longer showing two colors. Off the hall, Lauren glanced in a bathroom as she passed, noting that a hand towel was already hung and waiting. Before she could look further, they were entering a new room. Slowly, Bo took Lauren through the house. While furniture was missing in many areas, the house was, in most other respects, finished.

Bo paused at a closed door. Lauren saw her take a deep breath, before reaching for the handle and turning it.

Lauren stepped into the room, momentarily dumbfounded. The room was set up as an office; there were tall bookshelves dominating one wall. There were framed photos on a few of them. Lauren walked closer to inspect the pictures and was surprised to see a picture of herself as a child, smiling widely beside Michael on an apparent family vacation. She saw a picture of Zeus, taken from above, as he looked up towards the camera with his tongue out. She saw a picture of Vex, dancing in a bar, though Lauren couldn't remember when it was taken, and the image made her want to laugh.

She looked to her left and saw the couch that she and Bo had looked at months before, a blanket across one arm, with bright yellow throw pillows waiting on it. She looked down and felt a plush rug under her feet, over the hardwood floors.

She glanced back towards the window in the room and saw a cork board hung near it. On it, there were a few postcards pinned. She walked forward and looked at them. First, she saw Son of Man, a painting by Rene Magritte, and she smiled remembering the night Bo had joked about it being doctors' kryptonite because of the apple.

She saw a minimalist travel postcard displaying Greece. She took a moment to think about it before she remembered Bo telling her, seemingly years ago, that she wished she had taken Lauren there for their first vacation.

She saw a cluster of three more, each a different replica of a da Vinci's scientific sketches.

She stepped back from the board and continued to look around the room. The space for the desk was clear, though there wasn't a desk yet. There was only one item hanging on the wall, framed. Lauren approached it.

It was a frame with three spaces. In the top space above, slightly larger than the two bottom spaces, was a scaled down copy of a blueprint. Lauren inspected it and noted it appeared to be of their house. In the spaces below, side by side, were the first and last pages of the deed to the house.

Lauren's eyes scanned over the first page of the deed. That for love and affection but for no monetary consideration and other good, valuable and sufficient considerations, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the said Bo Dennis hereby grants and conveys unto Bo Dennis and Lauren Lewis, her wife, as tenants by the entireties… Lauren stopped reading.

Lauren turned towards Bo. "What is…when did you…what is all this?"

Bo continued to look nervous, though she was lightly smiling. "I'll explain it all in a minute. We're not quite done."

"How can there be more?" Lauren questioned.

Bo smiled a little wider. "Just come on, I'll show you."

Bo led them back to the kitchen. Lauren was shocked to see that it was…a kitchen. A full kitchen, with appliances and flooring and new countertops and a backsplash and even a fruit bowl. Lauren was in stunned silence, taking in the room.

"If there's anything you don't like, we can change it out. I remembered a lot of things you said you like, but there were a few things I had to guess on."

Lauren was frozen, looking at room, when she felt Bo's touch again, moving her forward. Wordlessly, she complied. Bo lead her into the dining room, where before her she saw a table, set with dinner and lit candles. Beside each plate was a champagne flute, and on the table Lauren saw, amongst the food, a bottle of champagne chilling in a sweating ice bucket. She felt Bo gently moving her towards a chair.

"You…made dinner?" Lauren asked. In the back of her mind she realized this was the least noteworthy part of what she had seen so far, but somehow her groping mind seized only on this as she struggled to process the monumental amount of work that had gone into everything she had seen.

Bo smiled slightly. "I ordered from Vinny's," Bo responded. "It's, um…it's the first place we went to lunch together on a Wednesday."

Lauren cast her mind back to the first time she and Bo had begun their weekly lunches. It seemed like forever ago, and somehow recent at the same time.

"What is all this?" Lauren asked. "Why did you…when did you…how…what is all this?"

"It's…New Year's," Bo answered.

Lauren felt awash in confusion. "It's…what?"

"It's New Year's," Bo repeated.

Lauren stared at her, and Bo smiled. "Okay, so maybe just repeating it didn't help," she said, lightly.

"This is…you did a lot of work for just a date…" Lauren said, quietly. She knew the comment in no way captured the scope of what was happening, but at the moment it was the best she could manage.

"No, not really…" Bo deflected.

"Did you…when did you do…everything?"

Bo looked sheepish. "I've been working on it," she said.

"When?"

"Just, you know…when I had free time…"

Lauren thought back over the past months. "And when would that have been?"

"You know, just like…on lunch breaks and stuff," she said with a wave of her hand as the reached for the champagne.

"…during lunch breaks?"

Bo popped the cork. "Uh, yeah."

"You've been going to work in the morning, then changing your clothes, driving here, painting, changing back, cleaning, decorating, and going back to work?"

Bo gave an exaggerated but humored roll of her eyes. "Yes, detective, I've come and done some work here a couple of times. It's no big deal."

"It seems like a big deal. Wait, is this…when you've been 'working late', is this…?"

"I just wanted to have it ready." With a pop, she opened the champagne. "I thought I could do it a lot faster, but…anyway, yeah, this is where I've been working. I wanted to get it all done in time, but I didn't quite make it."

"For what?"

"For New Year's," Bo answered, pouring Lauren's champagne flute.

Lauren watched the amber liquid fill her glass, the bubbles dancing in the candlelight. She looked at Bo, feeling no less confused, but feeling relieved to see that she didn't have the haunted look in her eyes, and that although she appeared somewhat nervous, she was still acting like…Bo. "Alright, I need you to explain to me what's happening, because I'm a little overwhelmed…" Lauren said.

Bo filled her own glass and replaced the bottle. She took a breath, and then turned her face to look into Lauren's eyes. "Okay, now that it's time for me to explain it, it sounds a little crazy," Bo answered with a smile. "But I had this idea that…okay. So, I know things have been…I know I've been…" Bo took a breath and started again. "This is a new start. A New Year's dinner, or guess…maybe New Year's Eve? Whatever, I just wanted to do this night where we start again. I've been working on things in therapy, and I just…I want…" her mind stretched out, looking for the words.

"You made New Years," Lauren said quietly, her voice sounding reverent as she began to understand.

Bo gave her a warm, loving smile. "Yeah. I made New Years."

Reviews welcome