Joey looked up from where she was stirring pancake mix in a ceramic bowl as she heard the front door open. There was the sound of nails clattering along the hardwood floors and then the dog emerged into the kitchen in a flurry of brown fur, wagging his tail and panting happily.

“Scupper!” Megan jumped down from her chair at the kitchen table to wrap her arms around his neck and giggle as he licked her face.

Pacey followed him into the room momentarily, holding his leash in his hand. “Returning one dog.”

Joey smiled over at him. “So, how did Doug do with him staying there? Were his allergies affected at all?”

Pacey grinned at her. “I don’t really know. But we’ll find out when he comes home after work later hoping to watch some football in his favorite chair.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as she smirked, shaking her head. “I’m making pancakes, if you’re interested.”

Pacey had been watching Megan with the dog and glanced over at Joey, raising his eyebrows slightly in surprise. “Um, ah…thanks, but I should take off. I was going to try and stop by my office and get in some work in this afternoon. I’ve been waiting to hear back on this deal and I want to be around if the call comes in.”

“Oh. Okay.” She replied softly, glancing back to the bowl.

Megan jumped up from where she had been playing with the dog on the floor to hug Pacey. “Bye Daddy.”

He leaned down to kiss her on top of the head. “Bye, sweetie. I’ll see you in a few days.” He raised his blue eyes to meet Joey’s. “I’ll talk to you later.”

She nodded, chewing on her lower lip as she watched him turn to leave before she blurted out. “Um, hey, Pace?”

“Yeah?”

“I was, um, talking to Jen on the phone last night about that New Year’s Eve party Jack’s friends are having. It’s, ah, some black tie event in Boston. Anyway, I was thinking…I’m going to go, and I, ah, was wondering if you might be going, too? Jen thought you were and I was thinking it might be kind of fun because I don’t remember the last time all of us were together and…”

Pacey nodded slowly. “Yeah, Jack mentioned it to me.”

Joey’s face brightened. “Oh. Well, good. I mean, that will be good, if you go, you know, because then everyone will be there.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged his shoulders, and hesitated just briefly as his eyes drifted over her face. “Well, see ya.” He started towards the front door, calling out over his shoulder. “Later, `gator.”

“In a while, crocodile.” Megan called back, climbing into her chair to finish her breakfast.

Joey watched him leave, letting out a long breath as the corners of her mouth turned up in a faint smile.

Pacey rolled his eyes as he clicked on his e-mail, scrolling through the several messages from Jack. He had been after him all week about this party tomorrow night and Pacey had been too busy to get back to him. Which, of course, did not deter Jack in the least from continuing to relentlessly hound him.

Pacey turned his gaze on the sheets of rain blowing against the windows of his office. It wasn’t helping matters that he had possibly the biggest deal of his career hanging over his head. He’d been back and forth with these guys for months, sometimes feeling like they were stringing him along and then reaching points where he could almost see their signatures on the dotted line. Having this deal come in for him before the end of the year would be a huge payoff for him, not to mention it would firmly establish his presence here at the company where he was still in the precariously unstable position of being last man hired. This one deal had the ability to make or break him.

He rubbed his temple as he leaned back in his chair, and was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as his sales manager, Bob, burst into his office, red-faced and breathless. “We just got the word from Jim McDonald. They got a bid in lower than ours and they’re going to go with it unless we’re willing to renegotiate the figures.”

“Shit.” Pacey muttered tiredly, quickly sitting forward.

“I don’t need to tell you what signing these guys would mean to this company.” Bob shook his head. “They’re leaving the window open until tomorrow at midnight. We need to get these numbers in on your quota before the end of the year, pal.”

“Tell me about it.” Pacey fixed his dark eyes on him and sighed heavily. “I have to fly down there again, don’t I?”

Bob smiled. “Sharon’s on the phone right now booking your flight.”

Pacey just nodded, sighing heavily as he stood up from his chair. He hesitated, wondering if he should call Joey since he always liked to let them know when he going out of town, but he figured they could reach him on his cell phone and, if he only had 24 hours to get this deal, he’d be back before anyone missed him, anyway.

Bob clasped his hand on Pacey’s shoulder as he passed him in the doorway. “Good luck. And, remember…we need you to be the guy riding in there on the white horse.”

“So, Kimmy is going to be staying with you tonight, okay, honey?” Joey called out from where she was getting ready in the bathroom. Kimmy was a senior in high school and lived only a couple of houses down. She had been a more regular babysitter for them in years past, but her availability had decreased proportionately to the demands of her teenage social life. She had been a great help with Megan, however, during some of the messier times of their separation, so now she was considered to be almost like family.

“Okay.” Megan was sprawled on the floor by Joey’s bed with the paper and art supplies she had gotten for Christmas. “Can I stay up until midnight?”

“Um…” Joey frowned as she struggled with her hair clasp, pulling it out and then trying to adjust it again, nervously fumbling it in her fingers as she tried to keep her hands steady. “I don’t know about that Megan…”

“Please?” The little girl pleaded with her. “I want to see the ball drop.”

“Well, okay.” Joey sighed, appraising herself in the mirror as she fixed the strap of her dress. “You can bring your pillow and blanket down onto the couch, but no fooling around. I’m going to tell Kimmy that you’ll have to go up to your room unless you stay there and be good, okay?”

“Okay, Mom.” Megan looked up at the windows as the wind rattled them, streaks of rain running down the glass panes. “It’s pouring buckets!” She exclaimed.

Joey frowned again, digging through her make-up case. “It’s still raining? Oh, great. My hair is just going to get wrecked anyway. Well, I guess I shouldn’t complain because this could all be snow. What is up with these temperatures lately, anyway?” She grumbled, almost to herself.

“Global warming.” Megan replied matter-of-factly, just the tip of her tongue appearing as she focused her careful attention on her drawing.

Joey raised her eyebrows, moving to stand in the bathroom doorway and laugh at her in surprise. Megan glanced over at the same time, her face lighting up at the sight of Joey in her long dress. “Oh, Mommy.” She sighed. “You look just like a princess.”

Pacey gazed out the window as the plane circled in the sky again, waiting for the back-up of arrivals caused by the foggy and damp weather. He finally saw the dark waters of Boston Harbor appear just below him, the familiar sign from the miles he logged in flights over the years that they were finally coming in to land. He glanced down to check the time on his watch, smiling to himself.

When Joey was first pregnant with Megan, the doctor had calculated her due date to be December 31st. They had joked at the time that they might be in the running for the various contests local radio stations and newspapers always sponsored for the first baby born in the New Year. As it turned out, it ended up being the day Megan was finally released from the hospital. They were still living in Capeside then, and Joey wouldn’t put her down for even a brief moment when they got back to the beach house with her, feeling the need to smother her little face with kisses even when she was changing her diapers.

They tried to stay up to see the New Year in together that night, but the emotions of the day had finally caught up with Joey and she had fallen asleep while nursing her, slumped against Pacey on the couch, her head on his shoulder and Megan still wrapped in her arms. He remembered he glanced over at one point right after midnight as Megan stirred on her chest, a tiny fist reaching up in the air as she stretched and yawned. She fixed her shining dark eyes on Pacey, blinking at him a few times before her little perfect lips curled up into a smile as he wished her a Happy New Year. It was a moment he would never forget.

Pacey checked his watch as he made his way through the almost deserted airport terminal, calculating how long it might take him to get home and get changed for the party. He ran his hand through his hair as he hesitated at the exit doors, gazing out at the torrents of rain slamming against the pavement. His excitement over signing his deal was wavering, his enthusiasm being replaced by the realization he’d only had about five hours of sleep in the past two days. He pulled out his wallet to make sure that he had enough cash on him to get his car out of the overnight parking lot and he smiled as his gaze fell on Megan’s picture. Shoving his wallet back in his pocket, he made the dash through the rain.

“In case you haven’t noticed…” Jen leaned over towards Joey as they made their way across the dance floor from the ladies room. “There are a lot of very good-looking guys here that have been checking you out.”

“Really?” Joey murmured with disinterest, digging through her purse to make sure her cell phone was on in case Kimmy tried to call.

Jen watched her, raising an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”

Joey looked up quickly. “Yeah, why?”

“You just seem very distracted.” Jen shrugged. “And you’ve been watching the doors like a hawk since we got here.”

Joey seemed to not hear her as her eyes were focused on the door that very moment, her heart skipping a beat as she saw the glimpse of a tall, dark haired man appearing through the arches. She rose up on the toes of her shoes to look over the heads of people in the crowd, her stomach sinking in disappointment once she had a clear view.

“Joey?”

She looked over at Jen. “Yeah?”

“What’s going on?”

Joey sighed in defeat, shaking her head as she closed her eyes. “Nothing. I was just kind of hoping Pacey would be here and that I’d have the chance…to spend some time with him, you know? I just thought it might be…we never get the chance to hang out or see each other outside of Megan and I thought…oh, I don’t know what I thought.” She finished miserably, bringing her hand to her forehead. “Do you think I’m crazy?” She whispered, cringing.

“Absolutely not.” Jen smiled, reaching over to rub her arm

“Do you think he’ll think I’m crazy?”

“Absolutely not.” Jen repeated with quiet confidence, her smile widening.

“Daddy!” Megan skidded across the hardwood floors in her feet pajamas, slamming into Pacey before she jumped up into his waiting arms. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted my New Year’s Eve kiss.” Pacey hugged her, glancing over at the teenage girl who appeared from the kitchen. “Hey, Kimmy.”

“Hi.” Kimmy’s eyes lit up. “Joey didn’t tell me you were coming to get Megan tonight.”

“I actually just got off a flight from a last minute business trip. I was just swinging by to see if Meg was still up.”

“Oh.” Kimmy replied with barely concealed disappointment.

Pacey raised an eyebrow. “Missing some big party?”

She shrugged, sounding guilty. “Kinda. It’s no big deal.”

Pacey chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “You can take off if you want, Kimmy.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You seem a lot more interested in going out to celebrate than I am tonight, believe me. Go have fun.” Pacey shook Megan playfully in his arms as she giggled. “Besides, I have the best date in town right here.”

“Okay. Don’t need to tell me twice.” Kimmy rushed into the kitchen to grab her coat, pulling it on as she approached him again. “Um…though, I was kind of counting on the job after I blew all my savings on Christmas presents and technically I have been here since 7:00, so you know…”

Pacey rolled his eyes with another chuckle, depositing Megan onto the floor to pull his wallet out and pass some bills over to Kimmy. “There you go. Thanks for staying with her.”

“No, thank you.” Kimmy grinned, her eyes widening as she looked at the money in her hand. She started for the door, hesitating to look back at Pacey. “And, you know, if my mother should call looking for me later at all, you don’t have to tell her exactly what time I left.”

Pacey narrowed his eyes. “Don’t push your luck, Kimmy.”

“Right.” She nodded with a smirk. “Happy New Year.” She waved over her shoulder as she disappeared out the door.

“Kimmy has a boyfriend.” Megan looked up at him and snickered once they were alone.

“God help him.” Pacey muttered softly to himself. He reached down to pick Megan up again. “You’re never going to have a boyfriend, right?”

“Ugh. No way, Daddy.” She shook her head in disgust.

He smiled. “That’s my girl.”

“Hey, beautiful. Having a good time?” Jack came up behind Joey, resting his hands on her bare shoulders.

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, raising her eyebrows. She played with the straw in her drink as they stood there and watched the band for a moment, finally glancing over at him with a frown. “Wasn’t Pacey supposed to be here tonight?”

“I thought he was.” Jack shrugged. “But, I didn’t hear him back from him this week. I even swung by his apartment this afternoon but he wasn’t there.”

“Oh.” Joey replied softly, her gaze falling to the floor.

“I’m headed to the bar. You want anything?”

“No, thanks.” Joey sighed, glancing over at the front doors for the hundredth time that evening as Jack moved away into the crowd.

“Excuse me, but would you like to dance?”

Joey quickly turned around at the sound of the deep voice behind her, forcing a polite smile in the stranger’s direction. “Thank you, but I was just leaving.” She reached over to deposit her glass on a table, looking around the room until she found Jen.

“I think I’m going to head home. If I leave now I can catch the last train.”

Jen frowned. “What? It’s only 11:00. Why are you leaving?”

“I’m really tired.” Joey avoided her friend’s eyes for a moment until she raised her head to look at her. “And, to tell you the truth, I’m already feeling like the pumpkin here.”

Jen sighed sympathetically, reaching over to give her a hug. “Let me say my good-byes and I’ll drive you.”

“No.” Joey shook her head definitively as she pulled away. “You stay and have fun. Don’t worry about me. The train station is right across the street and it brings me practically to my front door.”

Jen looked at her uncertainly. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” Joey nodded, swallowing back the lump in her throat as she quickly turned away.

“She did, Dad. Mommy said I could stay up until midnight if I got on the couch with my pillow and a blanket.”

Pacey watched her from where he stood in the doorway to the living room, tilting his head dubiously. “She did, huh?”

“Yes!” Megan threw her arms up in exasperation, rolling her eyes dramatically.

“All right. I’ll go up and get your stuff.” Pacey sighed, relenting. He really had no problems with Megan staying up, but he was a little more careful these days to go by Joey’s rules. He didn’t want to make things harder on her by undermining her authority in a house he didn’t even live in anymore.

“Oh, and I drew you a picture, Daddy. It’s on the floor in Mommy’s room with my art stuff. You can get it while you’re up there.”

Pacey hesitated as he climbed the stairs. “Uh, okay, sweetie.”

He paused just briefly when he reached the doorway, carefully averting his gaze from the bed they had shared for so many years. All the times he’d been at the house since the divorce, he never stepped foot back into this room. Of course, he’d never really had reason to.

He reached over to the dresser to flip on the lamp but before he could find Megan’s drawing, his eyes fell on the small pale pink teddy bear that sat on the nightstand. The smile spread across his face and he couldn’t help but go over to it. The nurses at the hospital told them they could bring something in to brighten up Megan’s infant bed while she was in the neonatal intensive care unit and they had found the bear sitting in the window of a toyshop down the street. It seemed to be custom made for her, tiny in size but perfect in scale. It sat there watching over her all those weeks in the hospital and when she came home, it sat in their room so they would never forget how blessed they were, wearing the same tiny warming cap that had been on Megan’s head the day she was born.

As he picked the bear up, something fell from its lap and Pacey froze as he reached down to pick it up off the floor. He took it in his hand, his mouth falling open slightly as he gazed at the smooth surface. He had bought it for her in Key West that summer they sailed away on True Love, a heart shaped shell one of the roadside vendors had fashioned into a box with a tiny gold hinge and clasp. The box had opened when it hit the floor and there inside, he saw the ring.

Once they had decided to get married, a calm seemed to settle over Joey as she became quietly focused and determined in her every action. She had a clear plan mapped out for their finances until the baby arrived, and there was no room for any frivolities. She even made Pacey get rid of his cable television package, reducing his viewing to the three local affiliates, and carefully monitored his intake of take-out food (until the realization that, between the two of them, they had only three or four options in what they knew how to cook finally made her relent a bit on that policy). She comparison shopped for Justices of the Peace in the yellow pages, saying that the ceremony itself was unimportant compared to the commitment they had already made to raise this baby together. She agreed, of course, that they should get rings to exchange, but she saw no reason for them to get anything but the simplest, least expensive bands they could find.

Pacey had pretty much gone along with this until he saw this ring. He had taken several odd jobs that spring, one of which was construction for a carpenter in town. He had been working on the house of the two little old ladies who ran Capeside Antiques, installing new cabinets for their estate jewelry collections and one day he went in and there it was. There had just been something about it, the intricate and unique detailed scrollwork on the white gold band, the three small diamonds in a row offset by tiny flecks of diamond chips on the side. Everything about it was elegant and delicate, perfect and timeless in its simplicity. Everything about it was Joey to him. And, while he would never admit to it, the fact this ring came with some story, some history to it just like the two of them, appealed to the hidden romantic in him. He had to have it, although he almost felt a little queasy at the asking price. Armed with the knowledge that the seemingly sweet old ladies stayed in business by pretty much bilking the summer tourists out of their cash, however, Pacey set out to negotiate with them. He haggled and bargained and, yes, even begged, and although he spent the next year in quiet servitude for the elderly, he got the ring. He liked to think of it as the beginnings of his illustrious career in business.

They had driven out of town one sunny, hot afternoon to the Justice of the Peace she had found without telling anyone else what they were up to. There had already been several round table discussions involving various family members on the issue of their collective futures, most of which Joey and Pacey spent sitting across from one another, silently holding each other’s gazes. He guessed that they’d known what they were going to do all along. They, as always, just needed to pause a moment to let their heads catch up with their hearts.

They forwent the cheesy organ music and Joey refused the silk bouquet. They stifled their giggles to the point where they couldn’t even look at each other, their shoulders silently shaking as the rotund man kept comically bungling their names as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Joey’s tears of laughter suddenly turned to real tears as Pacey slipped the ring on her finger. She stared down at it for a long moment until she raised her shining eyes to meet his gaze. She threw her arms around his neck while the man cleared his throat and fumbled his words, nervously trying to explain to them it wasn’t time to kiss yet.

He took her back to the beach house where they had been living alone together since Gretchen left and he made love to her for the first time since she had told him she was pregnant. He could admit now that he had been a little apprehensive, nervous that he would somehow hurt her or make her uncomfortable. She had just a tiny bulge at that point, really not much more than the usual soft swell of her belly, but now it was firmer, unyielding. As he moved his hands and lips over her with reverence, he felt a connection between them that went beyond the mere physical fact their bodies were joined together. And, as she grew over those weeks and months to come, he came to see her body as incredibly sexy, even if she would never believe him when he told her so (although there was a very nice time during her second trimester when she was always more than willing to let him prove it).

When Joey told him about the other man she had been with after they separated, her tearful admission ripping out what little of his heart he managed to salvage during the whole separation ordeal, she had claimed that it meant nothing. The thought that ran through his head at that moment, the reply that he never verbalized to her, was that she was wrong because what it meant was that they were nothing. After he’d had time to process it all, after months of careful contemplation, he was glad he had never said the words because, in the grand scheme of things, the truth was that it wasn’t enough to erase everything that they had together.

He realized that he’d pushed her away for a long time before that, not wanting her to see that he was afraid he was going to lose everything, to lose her, to the point where he couldn’t even live in the same house as her. He’d felt like she broke a promise to him, but in reality he’d broken a promise to her first. The promise they made to each other the day he gave her that ring that no matter what, they could handle any problem life brought their way as long as they did it as a team, as partners. He felt for so long like she’d let him down and he finally had to acknowledge he’d let her down, too. They had faced seemingly insurmountable problems when they were together and conquered every single one. The only time they'd failed was when they were apart.

Pacey carefully placed the ring back in the shell box and returned it with the bear to Joey’s nightstand, letting his gaze finally drift over to the bed as he felt the blurry sting of tears. He looked down quickly, swiping at his eye as he noticed the corner of Megan’s picture sticking out from under the bed on the floor. Grabbing it in his hand, he left the room and clicked off the light.

Joey fidgeted back and forth on the train platform, straining her neck and squinting to look down the tracks as she tightened her grip on her umbrella handle. The winds were picking up some force now and the rain seemed to be traveling horizontally, pelting against her body no matter how much she tried to shield herself from it.

She glanced over at the man who sat in the ticket booth and he looked up at the same time. “Trains are running slow tonight.” He yelled over to her through the Plexiglas window. “It’s probably going to be a while.”

Joey leaned forward to make sure she heard him right, his words muffled by the howling wind as her umbrella suddenly snapped in her hand, folding inside out. She struggled with it as the rain drenched her, finally just stuffing it into a nearby trash barrel as she walked away from the platform. “Thanks.” She muttered to the man in the booth as she passed by him.

She emerged onto the street, looking around until she spied a cabstand further down the block. She hurried down the sidewalk, soaked through to the skin now, her hair plastered against her cheeks. The moment she reached the first waiting car, a truck rumbled by on the street, spraying her with dirty water from the oily puddles that had accumulated at the curb. She stood there a moment in shock, holding her arms up as she slowly looked down at her mud-spattered gown, before opening the door to slide in the back of the car, miserable relaying her address to the waiting driver.

The tears she had been holding back since the party finally fell as she sat in the dark cab, silently watching the nighttime scenery fly by out the window as they left the city behind. She wiped at her eyes and glanced up at the warm, welcoming light on her front porch as the cab slowed to a stop in front of her house. She pulled out some damp bills for the driver, realizing the heavy rains had even soaked through her purse. Climbing out of the cab, she prepared to make the dash across the front yard, when one of her heels sank in the mud field that used to be the front lawn and her foot slipped out, landing solidly in the murky depths of a puddle.

“Godammit.” She fumed, reaching down to rip her shoe out of the ground and flinging her wet hair out of her face as she hobbled the rest of the way up the front steps. Throwing the front door open, she stormed into the front hall, closing it behind her with a heavy sigh. She turned and froze in position as she looked into the living room.

“Hey.” Pacey said softly as he moved to get up from the couch, gently easing a sleeping Megan off him and carefully sliding a pillow under her head. He walked over to stand in front of her, frowning slightly in concern as he took in her appearance, the ruined dress, her hair hanging in limp strands, rivulets of water still running down her face along with the dark streaks of mascara.

Joey just stared back at him, her wide, red-rimmed eyes shining in disbelief. Suddenly there was a clunk as the shoe she had been holding in her hand hit the floor. Pacey glanced down and bent over to pick it up for her and, at that moment, Joey noticed the Times Square celebration on the television screen across the room, the ball getting ready to drop as the noise of the crowd escalated with their countdown.

“Ten…”

Pacey straightened up, holding the shoe in his outstretched hand, but Joey ignored it as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“So, they continued on their way down the road, wondering where their next adventure might take them.” Pacey lowered his voice softly as he stroked Megan’s hair. She murmured under her breath, shifting positions as she snuggled her face deeper into her pillow. He stood up from the bed, smiling down at her a moment before he started to walk away. He heard her sleepy little voice as he reached over to shut off the light.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, sweetie?”

“Are the prince and princess ever going to get to live happily ever after?”

Pacey blinked a few times as he chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip. “Why? Do you want the story to end?”

“No. I guess not.” Megan whispered, almost asleep. “`Night, Dad “

“Good-night, Meg.” Pacey smiled as he walked down the hall to the bedroom, dropping down onto the bed with a sigh.

“That’s it?” Joey looked up from the book she was reading, raising her eyebrows. “Why is it that your story nights are so short? And when it’s my turn she has me in there for what seems like hours?”

Pacey shrugged with a grin. “I tell better stories.”

She smirked at him, shaking her head as she dropped the textbook off to the side of the bed, placing her yellow highlighter on her nightstand before she rolled over to face him. “Is that right?”

“Yep.”

She arched her eyebrow slowly, the smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “Well, why don’t you let me be the judge of that? Tell me a story.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you a story.” He joked with a low growl, wrapping his arms around her as he rolled on top of her and silenced her giggles with a kiss.