Chapter 9: Final decision

A/N Originally I hadn't planned on going this far, but since I needed to touch on the episodes following "Another Woman", I just couldn't leave the final episode of the season ignored. And there were just some things I felt need fixin'. Words in bold belong to Sara Davidson, writer of "Return Engagement"

Sully paced nervously in front of the homestead. Conversation inside the cabin had become stilted, with Michaela barely looking at him. By stepping outside, he was giving her the opportunity to talk to him privately, away from the children. So far she had remained inside, which only added to his torment.

What he saw and heard in front of the saloon had sent him into a tailspin. This just could not be happening! First that pompous doctor in Boston tried to whisk his heartsong away, then his own bad judgement had caused a rift between them. Just as he was beginning to feel confident in their relationship, the dog soldiers kidnapped his beloved, sending him on a race against time to save her, as well as the Indian village. Now, after she agreed to marry him, her "dead" fiancé shows up! Why are the spirits angry with me?!

Lightly touching the nearby wagon, Sully decided he had waited long enough and headed toward the house just as Michaela opened the door and stepped onto the porch. Seeing her, he lost his nerve, turned his back and walked a few paces. Stopping at the wagon, he leaned against it briefly as his body swayed. When Michaela joined him, he turned slowly, dreading the coming conversation.

Michaela hesitated, pondering how to tell Sully the news. She began softly, trying to break it to him gently.

"Sully, the most extraordinary thing has happened."

Holding up his hand to stop her, Sully declared, "I know." At her surprised gasp, he continued, "I heard you before, outside the saloon. You and..." Unable to say it, Sully merely replied to Michaela's utterance of the dreaded name. Somberly he asked, "Ya wanna talk about it?"

Michaela knew they needed to, but what to say? "I hardly know what to say. It's such a shock."

"Ya glad to see him?" He knew what the answer would be; he saw her hugging that man when the wedding procession rounded the corner from the café. Still, he needed to hear it from her.

Michaela couldn't describe all the conflicting emotions she was feeling, but one thing she was sure of. "Glad? Yes, I'm glad. I'm thrilled he's alive. And I'm upset that he deceived me all these years. And I'm... frightened." Turning to Sully, she pleaded, "What are we going to do?"

Searching his beloved's face, Sully saw only confusion. "What do ya wanna do?" Hard as it was for him to admit, that was something she had to decide on her own. Even if her decision upended his life.

OOO

After the altercation with David at dinner the next evening, Michaela's heart broke as Sully slammed the door on his way out. She couldn't bear the hurt in his eyes as he ended their engagement. She wanted to run after him and tell him she still loved him, beg him to give her time. But she couldn't bring herself to say the words he wanted to hear. She wished she didn't still have feelings for David, but she did.

After storming out of the homestead, Sully made it as far as the backside of the barn before collapsing. Sliding to the ground, his back resting against the barn's wall, he looked up into the heavens searching for answers. Feeling bereft, he wished he could talk to Cloud Dancing. He needed the wise Indian's guidance and reassurance. Sadly, his best friend was gone and he had no idea when, or if, he would return. He couldn't lose Michaela too.

Releasing a slow breath, he slowly stood as he made a decision. Tomorrow was the children's spring concert. He would make one more effort to convince her she belonged with him. If it didn't work, there was only one other thing he could do. His heart heavy, he pondered if maybe the best way to bring Michaela back to him was to let her go.

OOO

As the days passed with the future so muddled and uncertain, Michaela couldn't deny she enjoyed spending time with David. She loved having him along as she visited patients and he was the help she needed with Grace's eye injury. Many times after, she shuddered to think what could have happened if David hadn't been there. She hadn't been able to resist gazing up into his eyes in gratitude after the successful surgery. So enamored with him at the time, she had missed the troubling glances that passed between her daughter and Sully.

The next day as they walked through the woods, he brought back many pleasant memories of their courting days. When they stopped at the mining camp, David told her of his attempts to stop the mine owners. Knowing how much he cared about the land, Michaela encouraged him to work to save it.

Continuing their walk, David considered her idea. "I'll be up against powerful adversaries. The timber barons. Railroad bosses. Banks. You could help me, Michaela."

His words stirred flashbacks of the two of them writing a speech on abolition. They had spent the entire night working on the paper and in the morning he had bought her lilacs. The recollection brought a smile to her face.

Seeing the relaxed look on Michaela's face, David thought it a good time to make his move. Hesitating only briefly, he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

Michaela knew he was going to kiss her, what she hadn't anticipated was how it would make her feel – or rather, not feel. The kiss was sweet, but did not elicit the passionate response she always had to Sully's kisses. As a matter of fact, if she were honest with herself, David's kisses had never had the effect on her that Sully's did.

OOO

Sully approached the homestead as Matthew and Colleen were teaching Brian how to ride the velocipede. "Sully! So glad you're here!" Brian ran to him excitedly.

"If you're looking for Dr. Mike, she's not here," Matthew explained with a scowl.

"Yeah she's with that David person again. Or whatever his name is," Colleen returned bitterly.

Sully sighed and beckoned the children to join him on the steps. Just the night before, while professing his love to her, Sully had promised to stand behind her, no matter who she decided to spend her life with.

"I need you to do me a favor. I need you to give David a chance." Sully almost choked on the words, but he knew Michaela would need the support of her children if she, he shuddered to think, chose David.

"What! No way!" Brian refused to consider such an option.

"Why should we? We don't want him here. We want Ma to marry you, Sully," Colleen whined.

"And I want to marry your ma, but she needs to do what's best for her."

"What about us?" Brian worried.

"Of course she has to consider you, but she also has to think about her future. You won't always be here. You'll grow up and move away. Don't ya want her to be happy once you're gone?"

The three siblings exchanged unsure glances.

"What about you, Sully? Have you just given up?" Matthew accused.

"Never," Sully denied vehemently. "But I want her to be happy and if…if David makes her happy, then I gotta accept that."

He could feel a knot twisting in his gut as he spoke those venomous words.

"Just try and be fair, ok?"

Still apprehensive, the three reluctantly nodded agreement.

In an effort to brighten the mood, Sully beamed, "Hey, let me see you on that velocipede, Brian!"

Eager to please, Brian ran to the bike, Sully encouraging him as Matthew and Colleen cheered him on.

Seeing his mother approach, Brian rode to her, proudly showing off his newfound skill.

Throwing her arms around her son proudly, Michaela was disappointed when Sully bid them goodbye and headed on down the road. She was missing him, but it seemed as though he couldn't wait to get away from her.

Sully had felt it best to escape before his 'fiancé' relegated the events of the day to her children. He loved her enough to give her space to make her own decision, but his heart couldn't bear to hear how she had spent the day with the other man.

OOO

When David asked Michaela to take a walk with him the following afternoon, she knew the time had come. She couldn't put off the inevitable any longer. David was leaving and it wasn't fair to give him false hope. When he asked her if she loved Sully more than him, she followed Snowbird's advice and listened to her heart.

Looking into David's eyes, she pleaded for him not to force her to say the words she knew would hurt him. Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew then that it was hopeless. He was seven years too late.

As Michaela left David, she went in search of Sully. Now that she had made her decision, she couldn't wait to find him. He had been avoiding her of late and she prayed she had not pushed him away for good.

OOO

Sully was busy chopping wood. Even as he saw he had plenty, he continued in his task. He needed to keep busy, needed to keep his mind off the woman he loved; and possibly lost. But no matter how much he chopped, no matter how hard he slammed the axe into the tree stump; he couldn't stop the visions, or the pain. Staying away from her hadn't helped. It made him miss her all the more.

Hearing Michaela approach, he worried why she had traveled out there. She hadn't bothered to search for him since she found out who Andrew Strauss really was.

As she spoke, his heart began to constrict. She was about to tell him she loved David. He was sure of it. He felt a knot in his stomach when she admitted she would always love her former fiancé. Lost in those troubling thoughts, it nearly didn't register when she added, "But that's the past. You're the present. We're the present."

When Sully didn't respond immediately Michaela was afraid she had indeed pushed him too far." If you'll have me. Will you, Sully?"

Sully's heart instantly swelled with joy, but he found he was not able to react at first, the emotions too overwhelming. Once he was sure he had controlled the happy tears that wanted to stream from his eyes, he slowly turned to her and teasingly asked, "Will I what?"

With a slight shake of her head and a nervous sigh, Michaela proposed, "Will you marry me?"

Sully walked slowly to Michaela, took her hands in his, and with a soft "Yes," kissed her.

Unable to contain his happiness, Sully took off at a run, leading his lovely lady out into the field where he spun her around before hugging her close. Each couldn't get enough of the other as they gently stroked hair and backs, dissolving into a passionate kiss.

They were together again, and for always.

OOO

Through all these life changing events, the infamous letter remained within the discarded book; in the old trunk, forgotten. Michaela could not know it would resurface many years later and cause a breech in her marriage.

The End