Post by spyglass on Oct 13, 2008 14:52:57 GMT -5
xxxxx
epilogue
xxxxx
“What if there was only one choice and all the other ones were wrong? And there were signs along the way to pay attention to.”
-Dana Scully, “The X-Files”
xx
four and a half years later
a tuesday in november
Martin shoved his hands in his pockets as he paced back and forth down the darkened corridor. He stifled a yawn and walked over to the nearest bench where, part from exhaustion and part from nerves, he leaned over and sat down. He had no idea how long he sat there until a voice echoed from down the corridor.
“You look like you’ve had a long day.” Martin looked up and saw his father-in-law standing next to him, grinning broadly and holding Sam’s overnight bag. “Your mother and I went by the house to pack up a few things for Sam. What are you doing out here, anyway?”
Martin smiled, taking the bag from Charles and throwing it over his shoulder. “The nurse kicked me out. She and Betsy are helping Sam get cleaned up, and they’re keeping Claire in the NICU overnight to make sure that she’s okay.” Charles looked panicked about as he himself had when the doctors first suggested it, and Martin was once again genuinely touched at the role Sam’s stepfather played in her family. Charles was just as active and involved in Lindsey and Sam’s lives as he was in his own son’s. Inhaling deeply, Martin smiled at his father-in-law, “They keep assuring us that she’s absolutely fine and it’s just a precaution because she was only 33 weeks. That didn’t stop Sam from being practically beside herself though. I’m right there with her; I’m just still trying to process it all.”
Charles smiled back at him and gave him an encouraging thump on the back. “What time did you get up to get to the polls this morning?”
“This morning?” Martin shook his head and rubbed his hands together. “This morning seems like a lifetime ago.”
In a way, that morning really had been a lifetime ago. It was election day and Martin and his entire staff had been up since well before dawn, with an entire days’ worth of campaign events planned. It had been a tiring couple of months anyway, between staying on the campaign trail and trying to make it back to Washington whenever possible to be there with Sam as she took care of their son and was pregnant with their second child.
After that fateful April evening when she told him she didn’t want to wait anymore, they wasted no time in moving forward. Within four months, she had transferred to DC and they were married, and at the time, he thought he couldn’t possibly be happier. He was proven wrong a few years later when Sam announced that she was pregnant and Ryan came along. They hadn’t discussed the possibility of adding to their family when one evening he came back from a long day in closed sessions to discover Sam ecstatic with the surprise news that she was pregnant and he would be a father once again. It was a complete shock, but certainly not an unwelcome surprise.
The last two months had been particularly hard on them both. He loved that he and Sam decided not to have a long distance marriage like so many of his colleagues, where their wives and families lived back in their home states and they only got to see them the weekends they were able to fly home. But over the Labor Day weekend, Sam went into premature labor and was put on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. And while this was frustrating enough for Sam, it was just as impossible for him to take as she could not travel at all and with the election coming up, the time he spent in Washington was limited. He had been looking forward to the election being over so that he could come back home and spend time with his family again. In fact, when he got the phone call from his mother this afternoon, he had just been telling Anna that very thing.
“You have to come home Martin,” his mother had implored desperately. “Sam’s in labor and Dr. Breen says she can’t stop it this time. Sam asked me not to call you, but honey, her mother and I are just poor substitutes. She needs you.”
He needed no further urging. Without a second thought for the campaign schedule, he hopped on the next flight back to Dulles and raced to Georgetown University Hospital. He nearly didn’t make it in time, getting in just about an hour before his daughter was born. If something had happened and he hadn’t been there, he would never have forgiven himself. He could only count himself fortunate that this was not the case.
“Martin, honey?” his mother appeared at the other end of the hallway, holding his son in her arms.
“Dada!” Ryan exclaimed. The twenty two month old toddler squirmed in his grandmother’s arms for a moment, until Lydia placed him down on the ground. Ryan took a few unsteady steps before picking up speed and running towards where Martin stood. “Dada!” he called out again, throwing his arms around Martin’s leg. “You’re back!”
Martin bent over to pick Ryan up, hoisting the little boy up onto his hip. He kissed his son on the forehead and said, “I’m back. I missed you, buddy.”
Ryan nodded, burying his head against Martin’s chest. “Missed you,” he agreed, his words still running together a bit. He yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily with a chubby fist.
Martin rubbed the little boy’s back. “I love you, Ryan,” he whispered softly, kissing the top of his son’s head. Over the last few months, he had been running so much that it was easy to forget what was really important to him. Win or lose, the election didn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things; this did.
xx
Sam inhaled deeply and leaned back against the hospital bed. The light from the television set cast an eerie blue light in the relative darkness of her room.
Her mother and the nurse just left; Irene to go to her other patients and her mother to go find Martin and his family, and make sure he hadn’t paced a hole in the floor somewhere. Sam tilted her head, enjoying a few moments of peace and quiet in what had been an entirely hectic day, and she cast a curious glance at the TV screen.
The CNN news ticker ran across with headlines and updates from all of the day’s big elections. Analysts went from a big Gubernatorial race in Ohio to a hotly contested Senate seat in Pennsylvania when a headline popped up that caught her eye. She reached for the remote and turned the volume up just in time to see the CNN studio anchor get replaced by footage of Martin talking to his father at a rally and then him rushing to leave a conference hall earlier that day, cell phone glued to his ear.
“... And New York Senator Martin Fitzgerald left his campaign schedule suddenly at 1:00 this afternoon after learning that his wife went into premature labor back in Washington...”
The screen flashed back to the studio, but in the top corner of the screen there was a picture of their family taken from a campaign event back in July: Martin holding Ryan on his hip and draping his arm around her. It was a rare event when they actually brought Ryan along, instead choosing to give him as close to a ‘normal’ life as possible. Ryan was a precocious toddler, always bright and energetic and very verbal for his age, but also sweet and sensitive and Sam wanted to protect him from the media whenever possible. Even at his young age, he reminded her so much of Martin sometimes that it was scary, even down to the little boy’s blue eyes and dimples.
“Senator Fitzgerald is immensely popular throughout New York state and was a wide favorite to beat out his challenger Peyton Chandler, but it seems that his sudden campaign departure further enamored him in the hearts of New Yorkers. Exit polls now have him leading in a landslide, and those close to the Chandler campaign have reported that he is attempting to get in touch with Fitzgerald to concede even though the polls just closed an hour ago.”
Sam looked up when she heard a gentle knock at the door. It creaked open slowly and Martin’s voice carried inside. “Hey stranger,” he said. “Can I come in?”
She nodded and motioned with one hand, and he walked quickly over to the bedside, leaning over and kissing her gently on the lips.
“Are you still sore?” he asked, shifting his weight as pulled the wooden hospital chair over to the bedside.
She looked up at him and glared. Her husband may be one of the good men but that didn’t prevent him on occasion from being, well, a man.
“Right... sorry,” he at least had the decency to look appropriately apologetic. He gave her a lopsided dimpled grin, she can’t help but roll her eyes and forgive him. Not that she wouldn’t make him pay for that later.
“If I’m remembering this correctly - and I’m pretty sure I am - it’s going to be awhile.” She exhaled softly and remembered holding her tiny, tiny daughter in her arms, knowing without a doubt that it had been worth it. Just as she had known with Ryan.
Both of their children had come as a bit of a surprise. Just after celebrating their first wedding anniversary, she was a week late with her period. They had talked about starting a family but had no plans to do so at the time. The Saturday morning she planned on telling Martin and taking a pregnancy test, she woke up with a start and knew that she was bleeding; he awoke about half an hour later to find her crying in the bathroom. A few long and very emotional conversations later, they decided to start trying for a family, but it did not come easily. After trying for about a year, they decided together that the constant tension of trying to conceive was putting too much stress on their relationship and they would just take a step back for a few months before considering their next options. Sure enough just as they decided to stop trying for a little while, Ryan decided that he was on his way.
With all the trouble they had conceiving Ryan, Sam hadn’t even considered trying for a second child until she realized that she was pregnant again. Her second pregnancy was far more difficult than her first, between Martin’s campaign and having to spend two months at bed rest. Recently whenever she talked to her old team members, they always joked that they got to see Martin far more than they ever got to see her.
That had been the hardest thing about moving to DC, moving away from the team she loved, the people who had become her family. She did manage to kept in touch and they were all doing very well: not long after she moved away Jack gave up his SAC position to run a team in White Collar that would give him better hours, and his entire focus became being a better father to Hanna and Kate; Viv took over the team when Jack transferred out and was thriving in her new role; Danny finally managed to break down Naomi’s strong defenses, and they had been together now since that same weekend she and Martin got engaged. It took Danny another four years to convince Naomi to marry him, but Danny was nothing if not persistent and stubborn, and he refused to admit defeat. They had been married in a small, private ceremony over Memorial Day weekend where she had doubled as both best man and matron of honor, and Sam couldn’t be happier that her two best friends had found each other.
Something on the TV caught her eye, and she clicked the remote control, turning the volume up. “Hey, isn’t that your dad is giving your acceptance speech?”
“... and now live coverage from campaign headquarters in New York City, Senator Martin Fitzgerald’s father, well known in his own right as the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will be giving the acceptance speech on behalf of his son...”
On the screen, Victor Fitzgerald stepped up to the microphone on the center of the stage looking as usual very official and dignified. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of New York,” he started, coughing once to clear his throat. “On behalf of my son Martin, I would like to extend his thanks in this great vote of confidence that you have given him. I know that he will continue to work diligently for each and every one of you for the next six years and beyond.” Victor paused, casting a meaningful glance around the packed auditorium, filled with supporters and balloons and streamers and celebratory banners. “I know he’s sorry that he can’t be here with you all tonight, but on behalf of our entire family, we would like to thank you for all of your messages of care and support. I just talked to my wife about an hour ago, and we are all proud to announce that Claire Isabelle Fitzgerald was born at 6:55 this evening. Both mother and daughter are doing just fine, and the doctors don’t expect there to be any complications. I’m going to keep this short because I want to get back to Washington to meet my newest granddaughter, but once again on behalf of Martin and my entire family: thank you and good night, New York.”
The screen switched back to the studio where they had moved on to discussing the Ohio Gubernatorial race (which was still too close to call), and Martin took the remote control from Sam and clicked the television off.
Sam tilted her head to one side. “So there it is,” she said. “It looks like you’re still gainfully employed.”
Martin nodded, reaching out to take her hand in his. They sat there in a total satisfied silence, both contemplating the events of the day and the way that their lives had instantly become that much more complete.
Just a short while later, there was another knock at the door and Lydia Fitzgerald appeared in the doorway. “Is this a bad time?” Lydia asked, her voice just above a whisper. “Because I have someone right here who would very much like to see you.”
Sam smiled back at her mother-in-law, seeing Ryan’s brown hair poking out from behind his grandmother. “Come on in, sweetheart,” she said, anxious to see at least one of her babies that evening.
“Mama!” Ryan emerged from behind his grandmother’s legs and bounded quickly towards the bed.
“Now, you remember what we talked about before. Right Ryan?” Martin bent down and hoisted the toddler up to Sam’s bedside.
Ryan nodded solemnly. “Gentle,” he said.
“That’s right,” Martin affirmed. “You don’t want to hurt Mommy.”
Ryan leaned over the bed to hug her and asked, “When are we going back home, Mommy?”
Sam chewed on her lower lip, considering how best to handle this. “You’re going to go home to Grandma and Grandpa’s tonight. Nana and Papa will be there too, so it will be a big party. I’ll come home to you tomorrow, okay?”
Ryan nodded, thinking hard for a minute before he asked, “What about Winston?”
Sam looked up at Martin and bit back a laugh. The way her child’s mind worked constantly amazed her, that Ryan would suddenly think of the golden retriever that had been Sam’s anniversary present to Martin the year that Ryan had been born. Martin looked down and met Ryan’s eyes. “I’m going to go home and make sure everything is ready to bring your sister home, so I’ll check on him.”
Satisfied with that answer, Ryan nodded and yawned, stretching his chubby arms out.
Lydia quickly gathered Ryan in her arms and said she was going to take him back home and put him to bed. She left with a wink and a knowing smile, reminding them both to get a full night’s sleep tonight because it would be the last one they got for awhile.
When they were alone again, Martin lowered the bedrail and sat carefully on the edge of the bed. He took her hands in his and said, “So what do you think, Mom? Are we ready to do this all over again?”
Sam tilted her head to the side and looked into his eyes. She thought about how far she had come since that day long ago when she and Martin had first met, and she knew her answer without a shadow of a doubt.
“Very ready,” she breathed. “We can take anything they throw at us.”
xxxxx
Fin. End notes to follow.
Edit: Holy typos, Batman.
epilogue
xxxxx
“What if there was only one choice and all the other ones were wrong? And there were signs along the way to pay attention to.”
-Dana Scully, “The X-Files”
xx
four and a half years later
a tuesday in november
Martin shoved his hands in his pockets as he paced back and forth down the darkened corridor. He stifled a yawn and walked over to the nearest bench where, part from exhaustion and part from nerves, he leaned over and sat down. He had no idea how long he sat there until a voice echoed from down the corridor.
“You look like you’ve had a long day.” Martin looked up and saw his father-in-law standing next to him, grinning broadly and holding Sam’s overnight bag. “Your mother and I went by the house to pack up a few things for Sam. What are you doing out here, anyway?”
Martin smiled, taking the bag from Charles and throwing it over his shoulder. “The nurse kicked me out. She and Betsy are helping Sam get cleaned up, and they’re keeping Claire in the NICU overnight to make sure that she’s okay.” Charles looked panicked about as he himself had when the doctors first suggested it, and Martin was once again genuinely touched at the role Sam’s stepfather played in her family. Charles was just as active and involved in Lindsey and Sam’s lives as he was in his own son’s. Inhaling deeply, Martin smiled at his father-in-law, “They keep assuring us that she’s absolutely fine and it’s just a precaution because she was only 33 weeks. That didn’t stop Sam from being practically beside herself though. I’m right there with her; I’m just still trying to process it all.”
Charles smiled back at him and gave him an encouraging thump on the back. “What time did you get up to get to the polls this morning?”
“This morning?” Martin shook his head and rubbed his hands together. “This morning seems like a lifetime ago.”
In a way, that morning really had been a lifetime ago. It was election day and Martin and his entire staff had been up since well before dawn, with an entire days’ worth of campaign events planned. It had been a tiring couple of months anyway, between staying on the campaign trail and trying to make it back to Washington whenever possible to be there with Sam as she took care of their son and was pregnant with their second child.
After that fateful April evening when she told him she didn’t want to wait anymore, they wasted no time in moving forward. Within four months, she had transferred to DC and they were married, and at the time, he thought he couldn’t possibly be happier. He was proven wrong a few years later when Sam announced that she was pregnant and Ryan came along. They hadn’t discussed the possibility of adding to their family when one evening he came back from a long day in closed sessions to discover Sam ecstatic with the surprise news that she was pregnant and he would be a father once again. It was a complete shock, but certainly not an unwelcome surprise.
The last two months had been particularly hard on them both. He loved that he and Sam decided not to have a long distance marriage like so many of his colleagues, where their wives and families lived back in their home states and they only got to see them the weekends they were able to fly home. But over the Labor Day weekend, Sam went into premature labor and was put on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. And while this was frustrating enough for Sam, it was just as impossible for him to take as she could not travel at all and with the election coming up, the time he spent in Washington was limited. He had been looking forward to the election being over so that he could come back home and spend time with his family again. In fact, when he got the phone call from his mother this afternoon, he had just been telling Anna that very thing.
“You have to come home Martin,” his mother had implored desperately. “Sam’s in labor and Dr. Breen says she can’t stop it this time. Sam asked me not to call you, but honey, her mother and I are just poor substitutes. She needs you.”
He needed no further urging. Without a second thought for the campaign schedule, he hopped on the next flight back to Dulles and raced to Georgetown University Hospital. He nearly didn’t make it in time, getting in just about an hour before his daughter was born. If something had happened and he hadn’t been there, he would never have forgiven himself. He could only count himself fortunate that this was not the case.
“Martin, honey?” his mother appeared at the other end of the hallway, holding his son in her arms.
“Dada!” Ryan exclaimed. The twenty two month old toddler squirmed in his grandmother’s arms for a moment, until Lydia placed him down on the ground. Ryan took a few unsteady steps before picking up speed and running towards where Martin stood. “Dada!” he called out again, throwing his arms around Martin’s leg. “You’re back!”
Martin bent over to pick Ryan up, hoisting the little boy up onto his hip. He kissed his son on the forehead and said, “I’m back. I missed you, buddy.”
Ryan nodded, burying his head against Martin’s chest. “Missed you,” he agreed, his words still running together a bit. He yawned and rubbed his eyes sleepily with a chubby fist.
Martin rubbed the little boy’s back. “I love you, Ryan,” he whispered softly, kissing the top of his son’s head. Over the last few months, he had been running so much that it was easy to forget what was really important to him. Win or lose, the election didn’t matter all that much in the grand scheme of things; this did.
xx
Sam inhaled deeply and leaned back against the hospital bed. The light from the television set cast an eerie blue light in the relative darkness of her room.
Her mother and the nurse just left; Irene to go to her other patients and her mother to go find Martin and his family, and make sure he hadn’t paced a hole in the floor somewhere. Sam tilted her head, enjoying a few moments of peace and quiet in what had been an entirely hectic day, and she cast a curious glance at the TV screen.
The CNN news ticker ran across with headlines and updates from all of the day’s big elections. Analysts went from a big Gubernatorial race in Ohio to a hotly contested Senate seat in Pennsylvania when a headline popped up that caught her eye. She reached for the remote and turned the volume up just in time to see the CNN studio anchor get replaced by footage of Martin talking to his father at a rally and then him rushing to leave a conference hall earlier that day, cell phone glued to his ear.
“... And New York Senator Martin Fitzgerald left his campaign schedule suddenly at 1:00 this afternoon after learning that his wife went into premature labor back in Washington...”
The screen flashed back to the studio, but in the top corner of the screen there was a picture of their family taken from a campaign event back in July: Martin holding Ryan on his hip and draping his arm around her. It was a rare event when they actually brought Ryan along, instead choosing to give him as close to a ‘normal’ life as possible. Ryan was a precocious toddler, always bright and energetic and very verbal for his age, but also sweet and sensitive and Sam wanted to protect him from the media whenever possible. Even at his young age, he reminded her so much of Martin sometimes that it was scary, even down to the little boy’s blue eyes and dimples.
“Senator Fitzgerald is immensely popular throughout New York state and was a wide favorite to beat out his challenger Peyton Chandler, but it seems that his sudden campaign departure further enamored him in the hearts of New Yorkers. Exit polls now have him leading in a landslide, and those close to the Chandler campaign have reported that he is attempting to get in touch with Fitzgerald to concede even though the polls just closed an hour ago.”
Sam looked up when she heard a gentle knock at the door. It creaked open slowly and Martin’s voice carried inside. “Hey stranger,” he said. “Can I come in?”
She nodded and motioned with one hand, and he walked quickly over to the bedside, leaning over and kissing her gently on the lips.
“Are you still sore?” he asked, shifting his weight as pulled the wooden hospital chair over to the bedside.
She looked up at him and glared. Her husband may be one of the good men but that didn’t prevent him on occasion from being, well, a man.
“Right... sorry,” he at least had the decency to look appropriately apologetic. He gave her a lopsided dimpled grin, she can’t help but roll her eyes and forgive him. Not that she wouldn’t make him pay for that later.
“If I’m remembering this correctly - and I’m pretty sure I am - it’s going to be awhile.” She exhaled softly and remembered holding her tiny, tiny daughter in her arms, knowing without a doubt that it had been worth it. Just as she had known with Ryan.
Both of their children had come as a bit of a surprise. Just after celebrating their first wedding anniversary, she was a week late with her period. They had talked about starting a family but had no plans to do so at the time. The Saturday morning she planned on telling Martin and taking a pregnancy test, she woke up with a start and knew that she was bleeding; he awoke about half an hour later to find her crying in the bathroom. A few long and very emotional conversations later, they decided to start trying for a family, but it did not come easily. After trying for about a year, they decided together that the constant tension of trying to conceive was putting too much stress on their relationship and they would just take a step back for a few months before considering their next options. Sure enough just as they decided to stop trying for a little while, Ryan decided that he was on his way.
With all the trouble they had conceiving Ryan, Sam hadn’t even considered trying for a second child until she realized that she was pregnant again. Her second pregnancy was far more difficult than her first, between Martin’s campaign and having to spend two months at bed rest. Recently whenever she talked to her old team members, they always joked that they got to see Martin far more than they ever got to see her.
That had been the hardest thing about moving to DC, moving away from the team she loved, the people who had become her family. She did manage to kept in touch and they were all doing very well: not long after she moved away Jack gave up his SAC position to run a team in White Collar that would give him better hours, and his entire focus became being a better father to Hanna and Kate; Viv took over the team when Jack transferred out and was thriving in her new role; Danny finally managed to break down Naomi’s strong defenses, and they had been together now since that same weekend she and Martin got engaged. It took Danny another four years to convince Naomi to marry him, but Danny was nothing if not persistent and stubborn, and he refused to admit defeat. They had been married in a small, private ceremony over Memorial Day weekend where she had doubled as both best man and matron of honor, and Sam couldn’t be happier that her two best friends had found each other.
Something on the TV caught her eye, and she clicked the remote control, turning the volume up. “Hey, isn’t that your dad is giving your acceptance speech?”
“... and now live coverage from campaign headquarters in New York City, Senator Martin Fitzgerald’s father, well known in his own right as the Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will be giving the acceptance speech on behalf of his son...”
On the screen, Victor Fitzgerald stepped up to the microphone on the center of the stage looking as usual very official and dignified. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of New York,” he started, coughing once to clear his throat. “On behalf of my son Martin, I would like to extend his thanks in this great vote of confidence that you have given him. I know that he will continue to work diligently for each and every one of you for the next six years and beyond.” Victor paused, casting a meaningful glance around the packed auditorium, filled with supporters and balloons and streamers and celebratory banners. “I know he’s sorry that he can’t be here with you all tonight, but on behalf of our entire family, we would like to thank you for all of your messages of care and support. I just talked to my wife about an hour ago, and we are all proud to announce that Claire Isabelle Fitzgerald was born at 6:55 this evening. Both mother and daughter are doing just fine, and the doctors don’t expect there to be any complications. I’m going to keep this short because I want to get back to Washington to meet my newest granddaughter, but once again on behalf of Martin and my entire family: thank you and good night, New York.”
The screen switched back to the studio where they had moved on to discussing the Ohio Gubernatorial race (which was still too close to call), and Martin took the remote control from Sam and clicked the television off.
Sam tilted her head to one side. “So there it is,” she said. “It looks like you’re still gainfully employed.”
Martin nodded, reaching out to take her hand in his. They sat there in a total satisfied silence, both contemplating the events of the day and the way that their lives had instantly become that much more complete.
Just a short while later, there was another knock at the door and Lydia Fitzgerald appeared in the doorway. “Is this a bad time?” Lydia asked, her voice just above a whisper. “Because I have someone right here who would very much like to see you.”
Sam smiled back at her mother-in-law, seeing Ryan’s brown hair poking out from behind his grandmother. “Come on in, sweetheart,” she said, anxious to see at least one of her babies that evening.
“Mama!” Ryan emerged from behind his grandmother’s legs and bounded quickly towards the bed.
“Now, you remember what we talked about before. Right Ryan?” Martin bent down and hoisted the toddler up to Sam’s bedside.
Ryan nodded solemnly. “Gentle,” he said.
“That’s right,” Martin affirmed. “You don’t want to hurt Mommy.”
Ryan leaned over the bed to hug her and asked, “When are we going back home, Mommy?”
Sam chewed on her lower lip, considering how best to handle this. “You’re going to go home to Grandma and Grandpa’s tonight. Nana and Papa will be there too, so it will be a big party. I’ll come home to you tomorrow, okay?”
Ryan nodded, thinking hard for a minute before he asked, “What about Winston?”
Sam looked up at Martin and bit back a laugh. The way her child’s mind worked constantly amazed her, that Ryan would suddenly think of the golden retriever that had been Sam’s anniversary present to Martin the year that Ryan had been born. Martin looked down and met Ryan’s eyes. “I’m going to go home and make sure everything is ready to bring your sister home, so I’ll check on him.”
Satisfied with that answer, Ryan nodded and yawned, stretching his chubby arms out.
Lydia quickly gathered Ryan in her arms and said she was going to take him back home and put him to bed. She left with a wink and a knowing smile, reminding them both to get a full night’s sleep tonight because it would be the last one they got for awhile.
When they were alone again, Martin lowered the bedrail and sat carefully on the edge of the bed. He took her hands in his and said, “So what do you think, Mom? Are we ready to do this all over again?”
Sam tilted her head to the side and looked into his eyes. She thought about how far she had come since that day long ago when she and Martin had first met, and she knew her answer without a shadow of a doubt.
“Very ready,” she breathed. “We can take anything they throw at us.”
xxxxx
Fin. End notes to follow.
Edit: Holy typos, Batman.