My love grows for you with every beat of my heart -- September 1998

I gave my wife a kiss and grinned at her.  "Trust me, I know," I assured her.  "I honestly don't know how any of us kept it a secret..." I shook my head.  I had been so close to spilling so many times.

I twirled with Dean and hugged him close.  "You are going to talk to hi, right?" I asked, speaking of his dad, of course.

I looked at Addison.  "Of course I'll talk to him; he's my dad," I said to her, shrugging.  "Really, I've spoken to him all summer long getting him ready for this."  Naturally I knew this was not exactly what Addison meant when she said talk to him, but I was not going to say otherwise.

I smiled and gave Dean a kiss.  "Ah, yea, you boys aren't alwyas the best with secrets," I said to him.  "But that's not what I meant."

Watching as the bride and groom left us I strode over to my wife. " So it's about time that smile stays on your face hm?" I said as I took her out onto the dance floor. I may have been in a coma for a year, but I did not like how sore my muscles felt while I tried to do something I had always done before.

Sirius still had a way with me. I let him lead me out to the dance floor and grinned at him. "I wondered if you saved any energy to dance with me tonight," I teased. If he had to choose between dancing with me or with our daughter, I would want him to dance with Elena. But it was so wonderful to be with my husband again.

Swaying to the music, " I'll always find my way back to you. You really think I wouldn't dance with you tonight?" I asked her. " There is no need to be angry at anyone. It was my fault that there was any secrets..." I told her as I added a spin and pulled her close. " I have to talk to our son, I think he is feeling a little bummed out."

"I wasn't sure if too much dancing would be wise," I said, automatically going into the nurturing mode because Sirius did have a tendency to not take care of himself at times. I gave my husband a little kiss as we danced. "It made for the best surprise; there's no reason I would be mad. Well, I may want to smack you later when I remember everything I said in the past visits that you were awake," I added with a grin.

I glanced Dean's way and sighed. "That may be wise... but you also know Dean. Sometimes it's best to let him come to you." Our son had a way of making things one hundred times more difficult than necessary. "But he did help with the surprise, so he might not be as difficult as normal."

Frowning at my wife, " It's fine." I said shortly, smirking slightly. " You did say a lot of things." teasing her as we continued. Nodding with her, " Yeah, it is this big wall though. If we don't talk I sense it causing a lot more tension then I want or need. "

I was glad that he still had his normal sense of humor. "Oh, trust me, I know what I said, but I'm trying to block it all out so we can enjoy this," I teased. Sighing, I looked back over to our son. His relationship with his father was never the best to begin with. "Addie is good with him... if he shuts you out, she'll knock some sense into him. You Black men need a good woman to do that every now and again."

" well at least you're trying." I said with an added laugh, " I'm sure the Black men are the only problem." I said as I continued to poke fun. " you know you never said yourself as one of the most stubborn people that we have the pleasure of dealing with."

I grinned at Sirius and gave him a light kiss. "I don't recall making specifications of the Black women," I teased right back. "We both know I'm worse than you on the stubborn aspect." There was no way I would win that little debate even if I tried.

Laughing as we continued swaying, " At least you know you can't win." I said as I spun her with my right arm, wincing slightly. " Don't need to have worries, we're all okay. " I informed her as I know she is thinking of everyone. " Daughter is okay, son is okay and I am okay. You can relax."

I chuckled and looked into my husband's eyes. "You know me too well," I said. "You can just tell that I'm fretting just by the look in my eyes." I took a deep breath and actually tried to listen to him and relax.

George Weasley wrote:I gave my wife a kiss and grinned at her.  "Trust me, I know," I assured her.  "I honestly don't know how any of us kept it a secret..." I shook my head.  I had been so close to spilling so many times.

Smiling to him, I know it must have been hard on him." That had to be difficult"