Chapter Five:

Bo walks up to the front door and looks in the window; seeing her asleep on the couch. He reached down into the flowerbed and pulled out the hidden key. He just smiled; the fact that they knew each other so well reassured him that he was doing the right thing. He quietly closed the door behind him. He walked over to the couch and laid the flowers down on the coffee table; picking up the blanket that was draped over the chair, covering her...She immediately grabbed the blanket; pulling it tight against her; a small smile forming on her lips as she continues to sleep. He carefully brushes a few strands of hair off her forehead before picking up the flowers and walking into the kitchen. He came out of the kitchen a few minutes later carrying the flowers in their vase; placing them on the coffee table. He sat in the chair and watched her sleep; finally drifting off to sleep.

She woke up about an hour later, the sight of him sitting in the chair, all contorted as he slept, brought a smile to her face. She noticed the flowers sitting on the coffee table; the card just begging to be read.

She opens the envelope and pulls out the small card. Tears begin to fall as she reads the words he’s written, “To the mother of my children and the keeper of my dreams. Here’s to the first day of the rest of our lives, Love, Bo”, she lays the card down on the table and walks over to where he sleeps. She kneels down in front of him and looks at him as he sleeps, “I love you, Bo Buchanan, I love you with all my heart.” She gently kisses him on the forehead, careful not to wake him. She walks into the kitchen to get Matthew’s snack ready for after school.

He woke up thirty minutes later and saw the opened card lying on the table. He got up out of the chair, stretching all the kinks out of his body. He looked around the quiet room, wondering where she was. He walked towards the kitchen but stopped when he heard her voice coming out of the office. He slid the doors open and paused just inside the doorway. She continued her conversation; unaware of his presence, “Daniel, I don’t care if you’re acting DA, I’m telling you that I need and am taking the rest of the day off. I’ll be back in the office in the morning…Don’t threaten me, Daniel…If you’re voted DA and that’s a big if, Daniel. You just never know when someone’s going to decide to run against you and attempt to knock that chip off your shoulder…You know what this conversation is over. I’ll see you in the office tomorrow”, she hangs up the phone and spins her chair around, finally noticing Bo standing there, “Bo, I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, not at all”, walking over and sitting down in front of her desk, “So Daniel being his same self absorbed self?”

She sighs in frustration as she leans back in her chair, “Yeah, he was moaning and groaning about me not coming into the office today because now he has to stick around and he had plans”, she stands up and looks out the window, lost in thought for a moment, “He’s such a pompous ass,” She turns to face Bo, “One things for sure, Bo. I will NOT be working for that man if he’s elected. I love working in the DA’s office but I’ll gladly go back into private practice if he’s elected. Someone needs to run against that man.” She walks back over to the window and just stares at nothing in particular, her brow creased in thought.

Bo looks over at her. He can see her wheels turning; knowing she was preparing for a fight, “Nora…”

She turns around quickly and walks back over to her desk, “I’m running for DA.”

“Nora, are you sure you want to do that?”

She walks around and sits on the front edge of her desk, directly across from him, “Bo, tell me you want Daniel Coulson to run uncontested for DA and I won’t do it, but as I see it if I don’t run that man will be the new DA and he’s going to stop at nothing when it comes to making your life miserable. He knows there’s no love lost between the two of you and he’s going to ride your department every chance he gets.”

“I know, but an election can come with a lot of stress, public appearances, public digging into your background, our past. Do you really want to go through all of that, especially now that you’re pregnant? You know once he finds out Coulson is going to use that to his advantage. Once people find out that you’re pregnant with my child, and that this child was obviously conceived when I was in a relationship, they’ll use that against you, Red. They’ll call you the other woman and any other nasty thing they can come up with. Are you prepared for that?”

“Bo, I know what a political campaign is all about and what sort of prying it entails. I can handle it”, reaching out and taking his hand, “with you by my side. So what do you say, Commish, will you do this with me?”

“On one condition,” she raises her eyebrows curious as to where he was heading, “If this campaign gets too stressful and if one time and I mean one time there is any sign that it’s hurting the baby or Matthew, we stop. We’ll deal with Coulson being the DA, even if it means we both walk away. Promise me, Red.”

She reaches out and lays her hand on his face, knowing that his biggest fear is losing another child, “Bo, I promise you, nothing is more important than our children. The first sign that something’s hurting Matthew or if the campaign becomes to stressful and is hurting the baby, I’ll drop out.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you or our children, Nora. Daniel is not going to play fair.”

“I know, but nothing can hurt us if we don’t let it. As long as we’re in this together I can face anything, can you?”

“We’ll face the past together, and as long as we don’t take our second chance for granted, we’ll come out the other side stronger than ever.”

She leans in and kisses him; lightly at first, but it soon turns passionate. After a moment she pulled away, “I’m…I’m sorry, Bo. I…I shouldn’t have done that.”

He reaches out and runs his finger down the side of her face, “Its okay, honey, we’re going to take this as slow as is necessary, and speaking of that, I’m going to go back to my place and pack up a few things.”

“Bo...do you think moving in here is going to be such a good idea, you know with me running for DA and everything?”

“I’m moving in…the guest room to help take care of and get to know my son and work on building a life with him and the woman I love. Let Daniel Coulson do with that what he wants.”

“I do love you, you know that right?”

He pulls her into his lap and lays his hand across her stomach, “I do and I love you too, which is why we’re going to take our time and do this right.”

‘We’re going to have to tell Matthew the truth about why you’re here. He’s not going to understand why “Uncle” Bo has suddenly decided to move in. We’re going to have to tell him that you’re his father before he finds out from someone else.”

“Are you going to tell him about the baby?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to hide anything from anyone. I want to first tell Matthew, and then when I make my public announcement about my candidacy we’ll lay it all out in the open.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time, Red. First I need to go get a few things and then we’ll talk to our son. I just hope Matthew understands that I just don’t want to be his father, but that I am his father.”

“You’re my dad?,” he says as he stands in the doorway, the tears rolling down his face.