Livy had finally gotten the children fed an into bed. They had to share a room, which was probably for the best since they were so frightened. Gabriel had watched her warily as she had bathed the two little ones with Raoul's help. She had nothing to dress them in so Maria was put into a clean diaper and she found t-shirts for Gabriel and the other little girl, who was named Ilsa.

She had checked on them a second time and was on her way downstairs when the front door opened and Declan entered, looking more tired than she had ever seen him.

She didn't say anything as they stared at each other across the long expanse of hall.

"Would you liked something to eat? Raoul went to bed, but I was just about to make myself something." She nodded towards the kitchen.

He nodded. "Yes, but may I change first?" He looked down at his wrinkled shirt with a grimace.

"Sure, take your time," she said, stepping off the last step as Declan approached and moved to pass her.

She knew he had a lot going on and that there was a lot he was worried about, but she could save him one worry at least. She placed her hand on his arm to stop him and he looked down at her and then her hand. "I'll stay Declan. We'll get married, and I'll help you make sure the children are safe."

He closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. When he opened them his eyes met hers "Are you sure? What if it takes longer than two years?"

"I'll stay Declan." Her voice was calm and sure as she said the words because she had discovered in the last few hours, while she worried and waited for his return, that the only place she wanted to be was with him, and the children were an instant bonus. She had a family again.

He reached for her and pulled her close holding her tight as if he was a sinking man and she was the only thing keeping him afloat. Livy fought back tears as she wrapped her arms around him. After a few minutes, he pulled away and looked down at her, brushing some hair out of her face. "I don't want to destroy you," his voice was barely a whisper.

"Why would you destroy me, how could you?" She was truly confused by his words.

He shook his head. "It's a genetic trait."

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!" Livy exclaimed, stepping back to look up at him, trying to gauge how serious he really was.

He grabbed her and kissed her hard, making every cell in her body come alive. As soon as the kiss started it ended and he turned and moved up the stairs, leaving Livy more confused than she had been at his ridiculous statement.

In the kitchen, she started to pull out the fixings for omelets and had the first one in the pan when he joined her. She told him he was welcome to set the small table by the window, and he did while she finished cooking.

As they sat down to eat Livy kept looking at him, wondering what he had meant by his earlier statement, but Declan remained silent until had finished his last bite, then he sat back watching her and she watched him, trying to will him into answering her question.

"You want me to answer your question?"

"Yes," she said between gritted teeth.

He nodded. "Alright, but first answer mine. The only way this will work, the only way we will get through these next two years is if we are completely honest with each other, no matter how much it hurts us or how uncomfortable it makes us."

"What question are you talking about?" Livy thought back, trying her hardest to remember.

"When you were sick, you mentioned that my relationship with your father wasn't the only thing that you were thinking about." He waited while she thought back

As her memory returned, her face flushed. "I don't remember, I was sick."

"Livy," He shook his head in mock disappointment.

"It was personal," she hedged.

"So is the answer to the question you're asking me, very personal."

Livy watched him knowing he was right, but it was sharing a part of herself that would make her vulnerable to being hurt. She reached for her glass of water taking a sip.

"Fine," she said as she cleared her throat and sat her glass back down with a less than steady hand.

"I was thinking, wondering really, how many other women you had held in your arms, just like you were holding me." She felt her face flush and her heart felt as if it was about to come out of her chest at the admission.

Declan looked at her seriously and he answered her just as seriously. "I have not held a woman in my arms, the way I held you, since I was a very young man, and I only recall it being one woman."

"Who was she?" Livy couldn't help herself, she had to ask the question, hoping he didn't say it was Rosa.

"I hardly remember." When Livy shot him a skeptical look he shook his head. "When the affairs don't matter you don't really bother to remember them, do you?"

Livy didn't have an answer for that one, never having had an affair, so she changed the subject back to him.

"Now it's your turn. What did you mean when you said you didn't want to destroy me and that it's a family trait."

"I've never shared this with anyone and the only reason I share it with you is so you will understand. I try never to look backwards, there is nothing there, other than you and your father, that I care to remember.

"What about your brother?" Livy asked, tamping down on the joy she felt that when said he chose to remember her.

"No, there was never anything good about my brother. The only good things he did in his life were those three kids upstairs." He shook his head looking into his empty water glass. He probably wished he had something stronger.

Livy felt much lighter all of the sudden, and she breathed a little easier at the realization that the kids weren't his, they were his brother's children. She kept silent, waiting for him to continue.

"My mother was beautiful, warm, and funny. I have a feeling she was as innocent as you are when she met my father. She fell instantly in love and they had a heated affair until she realized she was pregnant. When she told my father, he said that they were through, that the kid wasn't his, and that she was a whore. After my brother and I were born and she had found her feet again, we were about four maybe, and she had landed a great job working at the docks as a secretary, he came crawling back. She fell for him all over again and she shouldn't have." Declan looked at her to make sure she was keeping up and Livy was doing her best to keep her face neutral.

"He liked the fact that he didn't have to work anymore, it meant that he could play more and he did, with all sorts of new friends and substances. My mother had a fine Irish temper and one day she came home early and found him high and with another woman. She lost it and tried to hit him but he was much stronger, in part because of the drugs coursing through his system. He hit back and it killed her."

Livy closed her eyes at the thought.

"Realizing what he had done he ran, and they finally found him dead in an alley a few weeks later. He had been stabbed."

"That story doesn't mean that you're going to destroy me," Livy insisted.

He looked at her with a sad expression. "Rosa was once as sweet and innocent at you are. The first time I met her she was eighteen and beautiful. I thought she might actually be the one to turn my brother around, get him off the self-destructive path he was on, but instead all he did was have her join him."

"I really don't see how either of those stories compare. You don't do drugs, do you?"

"No, thanks to your father who found me when he did, I chose a different path."

"You said that you reported a theft to him?" Livy recalled.

"My brother and I were both working on his ships. I had more than enough money but my brother never did. He decided that some of the merchandise that your father was shipping wouldn't be missed so he started to steal it. I already knew he was on a downward spiral, like our father, so I decided to turn him in to your father. I told him about the situation and asked him to send him to jail in hopes that it would sober him up."

"It didn't, I take it?"

Declan shook his head. "No, it only made him angrier and our relationship never recovered."

"When and how did he die?"

"About two and a half years ago, about a month before your father did."

Livy's heart broke. He had already been grieving when her father had died, leaving him with a massive mess to deal with, which had primarily consisted of her.

"I'm sorry, I was a brat."

"Believe it or not I welcomed the distraction. I have always found you a very stimulating personality." He gave her a tender smile.

"Well, it's a nice way of saying a brat at least." She laughed as she reached for their plates. "What happens with the children now?"

"I'm hoping to adopt them, but it's going to be a long road. I don't want them to end up separated and in foster care like my brother and I were. I want to keep them close and give them a good start in life. Maybe make amends to my brother."

"Amends for what?" Livy spun to look at him. "You tried to help him and your still helping his widow. You've been giving her money for the kids, haven't you?" Livy asked suddenly understanding his comment about aiding her addiction.

"I started giving it to Gabriel, but she caught on to that." Declan face was pure anger.

Livy turned her back to Declan so he wouldn't see how upset she was. What a horrible life Gabriel must have lived. But not anymore. She would make sure he had no more worries.

"Livy?" Declan turned her to face him. When he saw that she was crying he brushed the tears from her cheeks.

"We'll make his life better," she choked thorough her tears.

He studied her while he held her face. "Yes, my love, we will." He pulled her close and let her cry for the kids and for him.