Chapter 12

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The next morning Charlie was released from the hospital, with the strict understanding that he should take it easy for the next few days. Charlie agreed to follow the instructions mainly because he wanted to get out of the bed he had been in for the past week. Amita and Alan arrived to take him home. They were in the car on their way back to the house when Charlie realized that his dad probably didn't know about Amita moving in yet.

"Dad what would you think about having another person living at the house with us?" Charlie asked, looking over at Amita and smiling.

"We already have another person living in the house with us. You'd think that Don didn't have an apartment of his own." Alan said with an amused laugh.

Charlie and Amita laughed as well. "Actually, I didn't mean Don."

"Well who… Amita?" They pulled up to a red light and Alan took the opportunity to look back at his son who was sitting in the back seat with his arm around his girlfriend. "I think we could use a woman in the house." Charlie and Amita smiled at each other, glad that they have Alan's blessing.

Once they returned to the house Charlie disappeared upstairs to take a nap. He was still tired and weak but it felt nice to be in his own bed again. While Charlie was doing that Amita and Alan settled into a game of chess in the living room.

"What's on your mind?" Alan asked, noticing that Amita was rather quiet.

"Are you sure you don't mind me moving in here?"

"Amita…" Alan hesitated for a moment. "I don't mind you moving in. This house has seemed empty since Margaret passed away. Having a woman in the house again will be a nice change. You are a member of this family and I am happy to have you here. And I'm willing to bet that Charlie is even happier that you agreed to move in."

"Thanks Alan… I'm going to go check on Charlie, make sure he's feeling okay." Amita said, standing up. Alan just nodded as he stood as well.

"I'm going to get dinner started."

Amita climbed the stairs and made her way to the closed bedroom door. She found Charlie lying on the bed. After closing the door again she crossed the room and lay down with him.

"Hi." He mumbled, putting an arm around waist.

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here." Amita smiled.

"You're dad is starting dinner. Are you hungry?"

"Very. I'm sick of hospital food… we're going to have to get a bigger bed." Charlie observed. The two of them were able to fit on the bed however it was rather tight.

"I guess we will." She agreed holding on to his upper arm rather firmly.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just making sure that you're really here. I had nightmares… you would be with me when I went to sleep and I would wake up and you were gone… I can't handle another nightmare Charlie." Amita spoke softly but Charlie could hear the dread in her voice, the fear that she had been feeling over the past few weeks.

"Amita." He slid his hand under her chin and tilted it up so that they were looking directly at each other. "I love you and there is nothing in this world that could keep me away from you… when I was shot… all I thought about was you." Before Charlie could say anything else Amita moved forward, pushing her lips against his.

"I love you too Charlie." She whispered before they began another kiss.

They stayed like that for a few minutes until Alan called up stairs, letting them know that dinner was ready. After dinner was over Charlie and Amita took care of the dishes while Alan disappeared upstairs.

When Alan returned to the living room he found the two curled up on the couch. Charlie was leaning against the arm of the couch reading the newspaper and Amita was reading a book, her head resting on a pillow in Charlie's lap. Alan sat down in one of the chairs nearby, picking up his crossword puzzle and putting on his reading glasses.

The room was quiet, everything was calm… at last. An hour or so later Amita sat up and put her book down on the coffee table. "I'm going to head up to bed." She said to Charlie.

"Okay. I'll be up in a little bit." Amita just nodded tiredly and made her way up the stairs to the room she now shared with Charlie. Once he heard the door close upstairs Alan put down his crossword and looked at his son.

"I want to talk to you about something Charlie."

"What is it dad?" He replied, putting down the paper he had been reading.

"It's about Amita… I just want to let you know that should you ever need it… I have your mother's engagement ring. She wanted me to save it for when one of you boys found someone."

"I don't think that we're ready for that yet but thanks dad. I'll keep that in mind for when the time comes."

"Well I hope you'll act a little quicker then you have in the past. If there is one thing that can come from this whole ordeal is that time is something precious and that you can't waste it."

"Believe me, I'm aware of that." Charlie nodded. "I'm going to head up to bed… night dad."

"Night Charlie, it's good to have you home."

"It's good to be home." Quietly Charlie climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to their bedroom. Amita was already in bed she was lying with the sheets kicked down. The light on the nightstand was turned off, he could make out her bare legs and that she was wearing one of his t-shirts to sleep in.

He was careful to be quiet as he took off his slacks and t-shirt. It wasn't until he had climbed into bed next to her that he realized she was still awake.

"I missed you." Charlie sighed as she curled up next to him.

"I missed you too." Amita replied sleepily. The two drifted off, however all the while the only thing that was on Charlie's mind was the simple gold ring that his mother used to wear, the small diamond that gleamed proudly. Maybe someday… someday.

Fin.

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That's all for this story. I hope you all have enjoyed it and I'll try and get a little followed up started. Thanks so much for all the reviews, nothing makes a writer feel better then fantastic readers who review. You see what I'm getting at here?

--Mistress Sara