Matthew awakes that morning and walks down the stairs, preparing to begin his usual Saturday morning ritual of some cartoons and a bowl of cereal, while his mother sleeps in. He walks down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He walks straight into the kitchen and stops when he sees his father sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper. Bo places his finger over his lips making sure Matthew remained quiet, not wanting to wake her just yet. Matthew rushes over to him and wraps his arms around his neck, sliding up onto Bo’s lap, “What are you doing here, daddy?”

Bo leans in close, “I stayed here last night so that I could see you first thing this morning. I missed you while you were gone, champ.”

“I missed you too, dad. I missed you a lot,” Matthew’s eyes suddenly grow sad and concerned, “Have you found granpa yet?”

Bo pulls him tight, “No sport, I haven’t found granpa yet, but I have every policeman that I can out there looking for him. We’ll find him, I promise.”

“Okay, if you promise, it’ll happen. Mom says you always keep your promises.”

Bo’s mind drifts into the past as their son’s innocent words hit home, “Promise me that you’ll always be the last face I see when I close my eyes at night, and the first face I see when I open them in the morning?”  Bo is brought out of his thoughts by Matthew’s voice, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said that I’ll be right back, I have something for you.” Matthew climbs off his lap, he stops and turns around, “Are you okay dad?”

Bo looks up, his mind threatening to return to the past. He smiles and nods his head, “Yeah, champ, I’m okay.” Matthew smiles and runs out of the room.

She rolls over in bed when she hears his feet running down the hallway. She grabs her robe and slips it on as she opens the door. She walks down the hallway towards his room. Matthew runs out of his room, his eyes fixed on the object in his hand causing him to run into her, “Whoa there, speedy. What’s the rush?”

Matthew looks up at her, “Dad’s here,” Nora smiles and nods her head, “I came up here to get the stone I found for him at the lake yesterday. I wanted to give it to him. I thought maybe it would cheer him up about granpa.”

Nora tousled his hair, “You’re all your dad needs to be happy champ, but I bet he’s going to love your treasure.”

Matthew grabs her hand and pulls her towards the stairs, “Come on, I want you to be there when I give it to him.”

“But I should change…”

Matthew continues to pull her toward the stairs, “No you don’t, dad won’t care that you’re still in your pajamas mom, I’m still in mine.”

A heat rose up her neck as she thought about how long it had been since he had seen her in her pajamas. It was Valentine’s Day and they had danced and danced, just like so many Valentine’s Days in the past. She shook her mind free of the memory and followed him into the kitchen.

Bo looks up when he sees them walk into the kitchen. He felt a twinge grip his heart and rush through his stomach when he saw her walk into the kitchen. She was wearing a deep blue satin nightgown and a robe that kept sliding off her shoulder, revealing her sun kissed skin. His eyes ran up and down her body from her neck to her bare feet, and a familiar heat raged within.

He walks over to the counter, having to do something to distract himself before he fully lost what little control he had over his mind at the moment. He takes a mug out of the cabinet, knowing exactly which cabinet she would keep her mugs in, he just knew her that well. He sets it down on the counter and pours her a cup of coffee from the decanter on the counter. He walks over to where she sits at the table and hands it to her, “You still take it the same way I assume,” she looks up at him and smiles, nodding her head.

He walks back over to the counter and pours himself a cup before returning to the table, sitting down across from her. Matthew watches the exchange between his parents, with a smile. He walks over and sits down at the table. He opens his hand and sets the small package down in front of his father, “I found you a treasure at the lake yesterday, dad.”

Bo looks over at Matthew and then back over at Nora and smiles. He opens the package and removes the smooth stone from the tissue paper Matthew had wrapped it in. He pushes the paper to the side and places the stone in his hand, “Its perfect, Matthew, I’m going to put it on my desk,” Bo says as he pulls Matthew onto his lap.

Matthew turns and looks at his mother, “See I knew he’d put it on his desk.” He looks back over at his dad, “Does it make you feel better about granpa?”

Bo kisses the top of his head and looks at Nora across the table from him, “Yeah, champ. It makes me feel better about granpa.”

Nora shifts in her seat and takes a sip of her coffee, watching the exchange between father and son with a smile. She places her mug down on the table and leans forward, “Hey you two, how about breakfast at the diner?”

Matthew jumps off of Bo’s lap, “Chocolate chip pancakes sure does beat soggy cereal.”

Bo laughs, “They sure do,” he looks over at Nora, “A family breakfast at the diner sounds great,” he says.

Matthew and Nora left to get dressed and Bo went out to his car to remove the bag that he had never taken out of the trunk after rushing over to the station. Forty five minutes later they were climbing into Bo’s Jeep and on their way to the diner.

They walk into the diner and find their favorite booth beside the window. They order their breakfast and sit back and listen as Matthew fills Bo in on every thing that he did in Chicago with his grandparents and sister. Bo laughs through the stories, even though he’s heard them all before. He steals glances at her from across the table, she does the same. Something was changing and changing fast, something that suddenly neither of them wanted to stop.

The conversation suddenly comes to a stop when Matthew looks up and sees Daniel walk into the diner and makes his way over to them. He leans against the back of Bo’s seat, “Hi Nora, Matthew,” he pauses for a moment, “Bo…” he looks back over at Nora, “I wasn’t expecting you back in town for another week. Why didn’t you call, I would’ve met you at the airport.”

Matthew scowls and speaks before Nora can answer, “We came home early to surprise my DAD, and we had a car…”

Nora nudges Matthew and gives him a stern look. She looks over at Bo and then up at Daniel, “It was a last minute decision, Daniel.”

Daniel nods and then turns his attention on Bo, “I figured you’d be out searching for your father, Bo. I heard about his disappearance when I went into the office this morning.”

Bo shifts in his seat and looks up at Daniel, “The investigation is under control, Coulson, and if you must know, I’ll be checking in with the station as soon as I’m done having breakfast with my son.”

Daniel finally realizes that he’s not going to get between them this morning and turns to leave. He looks back over at Nora, “I’ll see you at the office on Monday?”

Nora nods, “Yes, Daniel, I’ll be there on Monday.”

Bo and Matthew exchange a quick glance and the tension is broken by their food being brought to the table. They began to eat, the conversation picking back up on Matthew’s end once Daniel had left. Nora could feel the tension return between her and Bo and she let out a sigh.

They ate their meals, nodding and smiling at Matthew while he talks a mile a minute, both of them stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Matthew notices the looks passing between his parents and he knew something had happened, and he blamed Mr. Coulson. Matthew pushes his plate away and crosses his arms in front of him. The scraping of his plate across the table and the falling of his fork off the plate catches his parent’s attention.

Nora looks down at Matthew and notices the scowl on his face, “What’s the matter, sweetie? Are you full?”

Matthew looks between his parents, “We were having a good time being together until HE showed up. He ruins EVERY THING!”

“Matthew,” Nora says, shocked at her son’s tone.

Matthew sighs, tightening his arms across his chest, “Well he does, mom. I wish he would just go away.”

Nora looks over at Bo who nods, “Matt, buddy, come with me for a minute.” He says standing up.

Matthew looks up at his father who is laying money down on the table, “Where we going?”

Bo takes his hand and nods to Nora, “Let’s go for a walk through the square and talk, just you and me.”

Nora watches them as they walk out the door and past the diner heading towards the square. She lays her head back against the back of the seat and closes her eyes, releasing a deep sigh, “You need to make a decision, Nora,” she thinks to herself, “and fast.” She sits up and pulls out her cell phone. She quickly dials his number, biting the tip of her fingernail as she holds her phone to her ear, waiting patiently for him to answer. She sits up straight when he picks up the phone, “Daniel, it’s Nora, we need to talk.”

~*~

Matthew and Bo walk hand in hand towards the statue in the middle of Angel Square, neither saying a word. Bo sits down on the bench surrounding the statue and Matthew follows suit. They watch a few people rollerblading, soaking in the last of the late summer’s warmth.

Bo turns and looks at Matthew, “Do you remember the last time we sat here on this bench?”

“Yeah, it was after you and mom told me that you were my real dad, we ate hot dogs and threw the football around.”

Bo smiles, “That’s right, and what did I tell you that day?”

“That you loved me and that even though mom and you weren’t together you would always be there for me and for mom.”

Bo nods, “That’s right and even though Gabrielle died and I’m not with anyone right now, those promises don’t change, Matt.”

Matthew looks up at his father, a few tears welling up in his eyes, “I just don’t get it. You two are so happy when it’s just the three of us, I don’t understand why we can’t be a family.”

“We are a family, Matthew.”

Matthew shakes his head and looks straight ahead, “Not a real one,” he says quietly.

~*~

Nora looks up when she hears the bell ring on the diner door. Daniel slides into the seat that Bo had just occupied and tried to reach across the table to take her hands in his. She slid her hands off the table and folded them in her lap. Daniel sits back in the seat, crossing his arms on the table, “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“I’m sorry, Daniel. This just…this just isn’t working out. I don’t know how else to say it. My son is miserable, Daniel…”

“But what about you, Nora? You can’t live your life for your son.” He leans back, “There’s more to this than just Matthew, isn’t there? It’s Bo, right?”

Nora shakes her head, “I’m not living my life for my son, Daniel, but his happiness is my number one priority. As for Bo, I have no idea what’s going on between Bo and I, Daniel. All I know right now is that my son is unhappy and I can’t do this to him, but for his sake I need to be sure about any relationship I get into, even one involving Bo.”

“You’re kidding yourself Nora, when you say you have no idea what’s going on between the two of you,” Daniel stands up and looks down at her, “I should’ve known when you didn’t show up for our weekend that something had changed.” He sighs and turns to leave. He stops and turns back around, laying his hands on top of the seat, “I hope you find what you’re looking for Nora, even if it isn’t with me.”

She watches him leave and get into his car that was parked outside the diner. He looks in through the window and sees her as she pulls out her cell phone. He pulls out his own and quickly dials the now familiar number, “Hey, Ri, it’s your dad, how about we get some lunch.”

~*~

Bo sighs and puts his arm around him, “There are all different kinds of families, Matthew. Your mom, you and me; we’re a family, even if I live one place and you and your mom live someplace else.”

Matthew looks up at his father and let’s the tears fall onto his cheeks, “Well we won’t be a family anymore, not if mom marries Mr. Coulson.”

Bo feels his stomach tighten at the thought of her marrying anyone, but especially Coulson. He looks down at Matthew and sighs, “Son, your mom and Mr. Coulson are a long way away from getting married.”

Bo looks up and sees her walking towards them. She sits down beside Matthew and looks over his head at Bo, “Did you boys have a good talk?”

Bo looks down at Matthew who looks between his parents, “Yeah…I guess,” Matthew sighs and looks at his mom, “I’m sorry, mom…I’m sorry that I said bad things about Mr. Coulson.”

Nora kisses the top of his head and puts her arm around him, “Its okay, sweetie,” she looks across the square and sees one of Matthew’s friends, “There’s Stevie and his mom, why don’t you go see if you guys can get together tomorrow, I need to talk to your dad for a sec.”

Matthew jumps up and runs over to where Stevie and his mother were playing on the swings. Nora turns and is about to say something when Bo’s cell phone rings, “Buchanan.” A few minutes later Bo hangs up the phone and looks at her, “That was Renee; they found, Pa. Apparently he ran into a troop of fire scouts camping in the next county. They’re bringing him into Llanview Hospital.”

“That’s great, Bo. I just knew that old man was too stubborn to leave us.” She looks over at Matthew, “I’m going to go over and see if Stevie’s mother can take Matthew for the day and I’ll go to the hospital with you.”

“You don’t have to Nora…”

 

She stands up, “Of course I do, Bo. Asa’s Matthew’s grandfather, he’s family.”

She walks away before Bo can say another word, “Family,” he thinks to himself, remembering the conversation he just had with Matthew. He had spent this time trying to convince their son that what they had was a family…if only he could convince himself.