Wow! It's hard to believe this is the last chapter. I want again to thank EVERYONE who took the time to not only read this, but review, alert, and favorite this fic.

I received an amazing amount of reviews and I can't tell you how much that means to me-THANK YOU SO MUCH! :)

It was a pleasure writing this for you. I hope you found it as carthartic as I did. All you P/O shippers keep the faith, OK?

I own nothing. And I hear a New Year's story calling. Keep your fingers crossed...

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same-Chapter 11

There was the sudden sound of clicking and then a little beep from somewhere off in the distance. Peter Bishop only opened one eye to check for imminent danger. When he was sure there wasn't any he realized what had happened. The power was back on. He became aware of soft breathing next to him and the feel of her still naked body curled into him, soft, fragrant hair against his face.. 'Livia, his mind told him softly. Somehow he knew it was still quite early. He concentrated on her steady breathing and closed his eyes once more.

Daylight from the east flooded through the window and hit him in the eye. Peter didn't want to wake her, but he needed to move a little bit. He removed his arm from around Olivia and moved the pressure off his right hip onto his back. She stirred as a result and opened her eyes. Olivia looked at him, unfocused, and he could tell the second she remembered. Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly. He knew he would kill for that smile. "Morning," Olivia said to him gently, tightening her hold on him.

"Morning," Peter answered her, his eyes shining like two blue marbles. He kissed her forehead.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming."

"You're not. This is real, 'Livia." She put her forehead against his and released a breath.

Peter brought up a hand and stroked her cheek. "I'd really like to make love to you again, but I have this feeling we need to get up and fix up the place..."

"Promise me we'll get back to this soon?"

His head was already shaking in the affirmative. "As soon as possible. I promise you." She leaned in the remaining millimeters and gave him a gentle kiss.

Peter was taking the freshly-washed dishes out of the dishwasher when his cell phone rang in his pocket. He looked at the display and hurried to answer. "This is Peter Bishop."

"This is Sergeant Mitchell of the Massachusetts State Police, Mr. Bishop. We just got to your car and retrieved your note. We ran your plate and saw you're a Boston FBI consultant. If you give me you're 20 I'll send a cruiser to pick you up and bring you to your car."

"I'd really appreciate that Sergeant. Otherwise we'd be snowshoeing it back to the highway."

"In this?" Peter could hear the man chuckle. "What's your 20?"

Peter gave him a location along the road in front of the house. He purposely didn't give him the house address in case he knew the McLaughlins' were away.

"See you in 20-30 minutes Mr. Bishop."

Peter set the sealed envelope in the middle of the dining table in the kitchen. "I think that's everything. You ready?"

Olivia shook her head. She lifted her backpack and walked to the front door. As she lifted her winter coat and put it on she gave the first floor one more glance. "I'll remember this place."

"Yes, we'll remember it," Peter said as he too put on his winter coat and scooped up the two pairs of snowshoes. Peter opened the front door and set the snowshoes on the ground just outside in the eight new inches of snow. He motioned for her to step into her pair. Peter closed and locked the door behind them and double checked that hers were secure before stepping into his. Carefully they moved around the house and headed for the road.

Ella squealed when she heard the doorbell and danced around. Rachel moved quickly to undo the locks. She opened the door to a kneeling Olivia with Peter right behind her. Ella ran straight into her waiting arms. "Oh! Merry Belated Christmas, Baby girl!" she exclaimed. "You feel so good."

"Come on in you two. It's about time you got here." Rachel closed the door behind them. "Nothing like extending the holiday."

Olivia stood up and faced her sister. "I'm so sorry, Rach."

"Don't worry about it. There was nothing you could do. But, you're here now. What can I get you?"

"I could really use a warm shower," Olivia said without thinking. They weren't planning on telling anyone the real story of where they were. She glanced over at Peter who shot a look at her.

Rachel laughed. "OK, not what I thought your first request would be,"she said as she eyed her sister and Peter suspiciously.

"But Uncle Peter and Aunt Liv," Ella interrupted. "We have to open the presents. They've been sitting there like forever!" She pulled Peter with one hand and Olivia with the other across the room.

"OK. I guess we're opening presents first," Olivia relented. Peter fidgeted knowing originally he was not to be a part of this celebration.

"I guess I'll get going. I need to relieve poor Astrid of her babysitting duties. I'll call you 'Livia when I'm going to go put the battery in your SUV..." He started to turn towards the door.

"Give me a minute, OK?" Olivia said to her niece and sister. She followed Peter to the door.

"You can stay if you want to, but I don't have a gift to give you right now." She lowered her eyes to the floor.

"Hey," Peter said lifting her chin with his finger. "You've already given me the best gift of all. Forgiveness." Not caring about her family only yards away Peter leaned in a gave her a passionate kiss. They both knew they weren't home-free, but they had crossed a huge hurdle together. Even though they had both changed as a result of the other Olivia's grand deception, in some aspects they were still the same, and they knew they would tackle the future head-on, together.

THE END

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