At first Amber wanted to tell her father right away, but then she decided to give Whitney a day to prove she wasn't the worst person in the world. She put her phone back in her pocket as she left Elliott's building.

Amber hopped in her car headed straight for her sister's house. Mary wanted a baby sister while she and Charlie started Christmas shopping. Julia was with Walter and therefore unreachable, so Amber "had no choice". This was fine with Amber. Work was winding down for the holidays so she didn't have to save up energy for the week. She could waste it all on Danny.

"He's asleep," Mary said leaving the house as Amber entered.

"What?" Amber said disappointed.

"He went to a birthday party. He ran around with the other kids for four solid hours." Mary wrapped her scarf around her neck and headed to the car.

"There's left over pizza in the fridge," Charlie said. He kissed Amber on the cheek and followed Mary.

"Bye," Amber said. She closed the door and hung up her coat.

She went into the kitchen to raid the refrigerator, but before she could get her hands on the anything the doorbell rang. Mary had forgotten her purse as usual. She took a quick look around the living room with no success.

"I don't see it," Amber said opening the door, but it wasn't Mary and it wasn't Charlie.

"Hi," Derrick said with his shoulders shrugged against the cold.

"Um…"

"I saw your car," he explained sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Okay," Amber said confused. "Do you want to come in?"

Derrick nodded as Amber stepped back to let him pass. "Is something wrong?" she asked. She'd actually been stuttering since she opened the door. Finding Derrick on the porch was like getting smacked in the head with a shovel. The room was spinning and she couldn't focus.

"Is everything okay?" she asked rubbing her forehead.

"Yeah," Derrick said. "Can you close the door though?"

"What?"

Derrick pointed. "It's cold."

Amber finally realized that she had been holding the door open. She closed it gently and turned toward him.

"Sorry," he said unzipping his jacket, "Are you busy?"

Amber shook her head.

Derrick nodded.

"Are you looking for Charlie?" Amber asked. "No, you said you saw my car."

Amber wasn't ready to talk to him. She needed more time to prepare. Why did he have to show up unexpectedly?

"I wanted to apologize," he said.

"Apologize?" Amber said holding back a laugh. "For what?"

"For the way I acted at Thanksgiving dinner," Derrick said. "I shouldn't have left like that."

"It's fine," Amber replied. "I admit I didn't understand, but it's fine."

"Good," he said. He stared at her for about five seconds making Amber uncomfortable.

"Actually, I wanted to, um, talk to you. I should've said this when you first got back." Amber felt the knot forming in her throat. She forced it down and continued. "If I don't say this to you before you leave, I'll regret it. I don't want to spend another ten years wondering whether or not you hate me."

Derrick started to say something, but Amber put her hand up. "Please. I'll chicken out if I don't say it now. I'm sorry for the way I broke up with you. I didn't mean what I said. I was trying to do the responsible thing. I didn't want you to waste an opportunity on me. But I shouldn't have hurt you."

There was a longer pause. The air was heavy and Amber was finding Derrick's silence unbearable. "I just hope you can forgive me," was the only thing she could think to say.

"I never hated you," Derrick said, "I wanted to, but I couldn't."

Amber smiled. "So can we be friends?"

"I'm leaving in a week."

Amber looked at her feet. "Oh, well, that's good, right? It's a good move for you."

"You think I should go?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. You should do whatever makes you happy."

Derrick nodded. Before Amber could he pulled her forward by her shirt and kissed her hard on the mouth.

"You frustrate me," he said holding her face close to his. "I tried so hard to let you go. And then when I saw you here it was like I was eighteen again. Uncontrollably emotional and irrational. I wanted so much to hurt you the way you hurt me, but you are incorrigible. Always putting others before yourself."

He kissed her again and then let her go and backed away. "I will always love you. That will never change. So is there a reason for me to stay, Amber?"

Amber's whole body was shaking. He had asked her that question before and now she understood what he meant. "You want to stay for me?" she asked hardly able to get the words out.

"You are the only reason I'm still here." He laughed. "I extended my stay three times until my company forced me to make decision."

"You shouldn't change your plans for me."

"Ugh, Amber, you're doing it again."

"What if you lose your job?"

"I won't and even if I was it wouldn't matter. You are all I want."

Tears rolled down Amber's face. She never allowed herself to believe that Derrick loved her. Even when they were together and he said it over and over again, she wrote it off as something temporary. And now years later he was saying it again. "Why?" she mumbled.

"All I need to hear is yes or no."

"But why?"

"Yes or no."

"Derrick…"

"Yes or no."

Danny started calling out the names of his family members. "I'd better go get him."

Amber ran up the stairs as fast as she could only to find that Derrick was right behind her.

"Deh-wit," Danny said waving his little hand through the bars of his crib. Amber lifted him out of the bed and turned. Derrick stood in the door way.

"Hi, Danny," Derrick said.

"Down, Abbuh," Danny said wiggling back and forth in her embrace.

She set Danny on his feet and he ran over and took Derrick's hand. "Deh-wit," he said smiling up at him. Danny led Derrick further into his room and handed him one of the many action figures that were spread across the floor. Then Danny went back to Amber and said, "Up, Abbuh."

Amber rubbed the top of his head said, "Are you hungry, Danny?"

"Up, Abbuh," Danny said again pulling on her shirt. Amber took him in her arms again and kissed him on the cheek.

She bounced Danny in her arms and let him play with her hair as she searched for words. She couldn't even look toward the door. It was like she was in a dream and at any minute she was going to wake up in her bed with tears in her eyes as she had done so many times before.

"I'm hungry, Danny," Derrick said pulling him from Amber. "Let's go find some food."

Danny started giggling as Derrick carried him out of the room.

Amber was a bit disoriented, but she followed Derrick anyway. She was worried about what he might give Danny to eat.

Derrick and Danny continued to have a conversation about food down the stairs and into the kitchen. Derrick explained that he liked sandwiches. Danny kept trying to pronounce the word sandwiches which made Derrick laugh. Derrick laughing made Danny laugh.

In the kitchen, Derrick sat Danny at the kitchen table and handed him his toy. Danny said thank you and begin speaking unintelligibly again.

Amber was already putting milk in Danny's cup as Derrick began to rummage through the refrigerator.

"There's not much here," Derrick said closing it. "Should we go out?"

"No," Amber said quickly. She added a smile to seem more polite. "We're fine. You can go. I'll take care of him."

"I can't go," Derrick said. He left the kitchen and came back with Danny's coat and shoes. "You haven't given me an answer." He sat in the chair next to Danny and began putting on his shoes. "And we're hungry. Right, Danny."

"Huh-gwee," Danny said clapping.

Derrick gave Amber no room to protest. She had always been stubborn and almost unyielding. She was uncomfortable and Derrick knew she would do anything to get rid of him so she could have chance to regroup. He wasn't going to give her that chance. If he let her think, he knew she would come to the conclusion that she was not worth his staying. Derrick was going to anything to make her see that wasn't true.

Amber was forced to put on her coat and shoes and follow Derrick and Danny out of the house. "We should take my car," she muttered unlocking it. She had the car seat.

Derrick let Amber strap Danny in. She sent Charlie and Mary text saying she had taken Danny to get some food.

"What do you want to eat?" Derrick said.

"Whatever you want," Amber said.

"Hamburgers?"

"That's fine."

"I could also go for tacos."

"Whichever," Amber said putting the car into drive. "As long as there's a kid's menu." She drove carefully. Her hands were still shaking but she didn't want Derrick to know.

"We can go to Hacienda," Derrick said, "It's not too far from here."

"That's fine," Amber said forcing a smile. "Just tell me where to go."

They rode through residential streets for about two miles before pulling into a mini mall parking lot. It was crowded. People were gearing up for the holiday season. There were happy shoppers pulling in and out of parking spaces walking in and out of stores and restaurants. Hugging, smiling, holding hands.

"This is it," Derrick said instructing Amber where to park. The Hacienda sign was big, flashing neon yellow right overhead, but Amber almost missed it.

Derrick hopped out of the car ready to help Amber with Danny if she needed it. "Huh-gwee, Abbuh," he was saying as she pulled him out of his car seat. It was then Amber realized he was still in his pajamas.

"I can't do this," Amber said leaning against the car.

"He's too heavy," Derrick said. Amber shook her head.

"Nobody's going to care about the pajamas. He's a baby."

"Derrick, we can't do this."

Derrick backed away from the car and put his hands in his pockets.

"You don't even know me anymore," she continued. "We haven't talked in years."

"We can start over. You don't have to marry me tomorrow."

"Marry you?" It was surreal. Amber felt like she was in the twilight zone.

"We can get married tomorrow if you want to," Derrick said laughing.

"That's not funny," Amber said.

"Huh-gwee, Abbuh!"

"I know, Danny," Amber said kissing him on the forehead. She closed the car door and started walking to the restaurant.

"I'll hold him," Derrick said following her.

"He can walk." Amber put Danny on the ground and took his hand. Danny held out his other hand for Derrick to take.

"You could be happy," Amber said. "I only cause problems. You don't need me. I brought old feelings you may have had once, but you'll get over it. So it's better that you leave. Or if you staying, it's not because of me."

"All I need to hear," Derrick said, "Is yes or no. And we'll never have this conversation again."

Amber couldn't say no. She loved Derrick. She always loved him and she was never going to be the reason they weren't together ever again. She also couldn't say yes. She didn't want Derrick to decide that he made mistake and break her heart. Not that she didn't deserve it, but she didn't want to go through that. She was sure she would never recover from his rejection.

"I bought this three years ago," Derrick said.

Amber looked at him and he was holding a ring box over Danny's head. "I was in San Francisco during the jazz festival. You were there."

"Mary was pregnant," Amber said remembering that year. "It was my birthday."

"We were staying in the same hotel," Derrick said. "I waited for you at breakfast every morning. You never saw me and I never worked up the courage to talk to you. I was still mad at you. A little part of me will always be mad at you for forcing me to be without you for all those years, but watching you like that I knew there was no one else. No matter how much I wanted to hate you.

"So my last night there - you'd already checked out the hotel – I got super drunk with my friends. One of my friends got a tattoo of his ex-girlfriend. Do you remember, Ron? He came out in college. Anyway he got his belly button pierced." Derrick laughed at the memory. "Jared bleached his hair. I bought this ring." Derrick forced the box into Amber's hand.

"I had every intention of selling in the next day, but I kept putting off until it was a month later and then a year later until I never went anywhere without it. It wasn't mine to sell." Derrick pulled Danny off the ground and let him rest in his arm. "It's yours whether you tell me to stay or not."

Derrick walked ahead of Amber into the restaurant suddenly afraid she really would turn him down.

"Wait," Amber said. She slipped the ring back into his pocket. "Stay," she said.

"The ring is yours."

She shook her head. "If you still want to give it to me later, you can."

"Still think I'm going to leave you?"

Amber smiled through her tears and shook her head.

Derrick walked towards her. He touched his lips gently to hers only to be interrupted by Danny whose curiosity led him to stick his face in between theirs.

Amber laughed and kissed Danny on the cheek.

"I love you," she said looking at Derrick.

Before Derrick could reply, Danny wrapped his arms around Amber's neck and said. "Lub you, Abbuh. Lub you."