"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you

That I almost believe that they're real

I've been living so long with my pictures of you

That I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel" – The Cure

He supposed that moving in to Sarah's apartment was a practical idea. After all, his lease was up and he hadn't really spent that much time in his apartment any way.

They'd been laying in bed on a snowy Sunday morning in January when the subject of cohabitation came up. After taking Lucky out, he'd slipped back under the covers with her for a rare bit of morning relaxation.

"I like having you here in the morning," she smiled, snuggling in his arms. "That way I can stay in my nice warm bed and you can take Lucky out."

"Is that the only reason you like having me here?" he laughed, as Lucky hopped up onto the bed and settled at his feet.

"No, but it's on the top of the list. Tell me you don't like waking up here…"

"I never said that," he counted. With a sloe smile, he ran his hand along the curve of her waist and said, "Sleeping here does have its perks."

"Which is why you do it so damn much, huh?"

"It's on the top of the list," he teased, watching as her expression grew thoughtful. "What?"

"Isn't your lease up at the end of February?"

"It is, why?"

"Well, it really doesn't make sense to be paying rent on two apartments when we really only use one."

He raised a brow, "You make a good point. I didn't know you wanted to move out of this place."

"I don't," she explained, "Not really anyway. I was thinking that maybe you could move in here."

He processed the thought. She did have a point. He was paying rent for an apartment he barely used and her place felt more like home to him. But was their relationship to that point yet? His mother certainly thought so, so did Stella. Apparently, Sarah agreed with them.

"You don't have to decide now," she softly said, "Think about it a bit. You've got til the end of the month to give your 30 day notice."

XXXXX

It took him all of 24 hours to decide to move in with her. It took another two weeks to give his land lord notice and to start moving his belongings into Sarah's apartment.

On the last Saturday of February, Danny and Jason came down and, along with Stella, helped him move into Sarah's apartment. After setting the last box in Madyson's old bedroom, Mac walked out to find Sarah and Stella standing in front of Sarah's wall of photos.

"I suppose," Sarah said, looking at the pictures, "I need to go through these and box some up."

"Yeah, Mom," Danny said, handing her a bottle of beer. "You really don't want to force Mac to have to look at all of those old pictures every day."

"True," she shrugged.

"I don't know," Stella said, smiling at the photos, "I think it's great that you have your family history up on the wall."

"Yeah," Danny went on, studying the pictures, "But its Mom's family history. She's starting something new now…"

Mac studied Sarah's face during this conversation. Despite the smile she wore, there was conflict in her eyes. He knew what those pictures meant to her, especially the ones of Danny Sr and Madyson. He couldn't ask her to take them down.

"I don't know, Danny," he said, walking over and slipping an arm around Sarah's shoulders. "I kinda like it the way it is."

Sarah smiled at him, but Danny would not be deterred.

"You can handle pictures of some other guy on your wall?"

"It's not some other guy," Mac reasoned, "Your father was a big part of your mother's life. I wouldn't dream of asking her to take those pictures down."

"We'll see," she thoughtfully said, then forced on a smile, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for some dinner. Jason, why don't you grab the take out menus and we'll order some dinner?"

"You got it, Mrs. O'Neill," Jason said, "Come on Danny, let's go sort through the menu drawer."

After the two of them walked into the kitchen, Stella excused herself to the bathroom, leaving Mac and Sarah alone. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly. "I meant what I said."

"What you said about what?" she asked, slipping her arms around him.

"Don't take down the pictures," he seriously said. "Seeing you with Dan doesn't bother me at all, Sarah."

"You do know that I love you, don't you?" she asked with a smile.

"I love you too," he replied, with a kiss.

"Ooops, I'm interrupting something…" Stella laughed, causing them to step apart.

"You're fine," Sarah dismissed, "Come on, let's go look at the menus, if we leave it up to those two we'll be eating sushi."

XXXXX

Mac opened the apartment door, surprised to find the living room empty. When he'd left to drive Stella home over an hour ago, Sarah, Danny, and Jason were sitting on the sofa making plans for Easter weekend. As he closed the door, Lucky bounded into the living room.

"Hey there Boy," he laughed, as the dog skidded to a stop in front of him. He bent and ruffled the fur at Lucky's neck. "Where'd everybody go?"

It was then he saw the note on the dining room table. In Sarah's neat script, it read, "Ran out with the boys to pick up ice cream. Back in a few. Love, Sarah."

As he took off his jacket and walked back to the foyer to hang it on the coat tree, he looked around the apartment. The room looked different, he decided, different, yet the same. Sarah's things were still there, but now, so were some of his. Now, the wall unit, the overstuffed sofa where they'd first made love, and the oriental rug that he knew hid a large purple spot where Madyson had dropped her nail polish, were joined by his floor lamp, his black leather ottoman that Sarah fell in love with in his old living room, and his television.

Despite the fact that he'd had those pieces in his apartment for years, they seemed new and different here in Sarah's living room. He supposed in time that they would blend in, but for now, they stuck out. With a shrug, he hung his jacket and made his way towards the kitchen.

At least, he thought, he'd talked her out of taking down her pictures. He'd told her the truth when he said they didn't bother him, it was a part of her history, and he'd grown familiar with each framed shot. As he passed the wall, the corner of his eye picked up something out of place.

Curious, he stopped and looked at the wall. She'd moved things around, he decided, his eyes focusing on the shape and lay out of the frames. Stepping closer, he studied the pictures and a broad smile spread on his features.

There, next to the picture of Sarah and Dan's wedding day was the framed picture of Mac and Claire on their wedding day. And she didn't stop there, Sarah must have gone through the box of old photos he'd slipped into Madyson's room, because framed shots of Mac, Claire, and even Mac's parents were slipped into the mix of Sarah's photos.

Hearing the door open, he turned around just as they all walked in. Sarah's smile grew nervous as she realized that he'd seen her handiwork.

"I hope you don't mind…" she began.

"I don't mind," he smiled, taking her into his arms.

"That way, it's our history," she smiled. "Not just mine."

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

She shook her head, "I don't mind at all."

As he leaned in to kiss her, a flash caught their attention. Looking for its source, they found Danny holding his camera.

"Now you've got one of the two of you to add to the wall," he smiled.

And twenty minutes later, after Danny had printed out the picture and placed it in a frame, they did just that.