Normal civilian life: the one thing that I was absolutely hating as a ex con. There was never any danger or thrill when it came to day to day activities. I thought I would get through it, being able to go from one life to another only for the sake of my daughter, but it's one of the more harder things to do. But I had to do it, all for my daughter.

Arthur and I wanted to give her a normal life, the life we had when we first met was too dangerous for her. One false job and we could be out on the run, and Alice didn't deserve to be on the run. She needed to stay in one place, and she needed to grow up normally. But what was normal, since her parents met doing a illegal job, fell in love and all was history. We weren't normal anyways, but we tried so hard.

Arthur was suffering more than I was, I could see it when he sleeps and when he walks down the street. He misses being able to have things in his control, being able to fix things with a snap of his fingers. His sleep is restless, always waking up in the middle of the night and checking his totem. His mind was playing tricks on him, and I knew mind was doing the same. I would have dreams of Mal, and seeing her point a gun at me and her small smile that meant she was going to kill me. Even out of the job I feared her.

Our only source of comfort was Alice, who was about to turn four years old very soon to be exact. She was our world, bringing us happiness and joy whenever she spoke and whenever she laughed. Her hair was long past her shoulders, dark chocolate brown she got from Arthur and her bright green eyes from me. She was proper, clumsy, serious, yet cheerful. She would with me when I worked at the bookstore, and thank goodness for the children's section where I helped her learn how to read. And when Arthur came home from working as a Private Investigator, he would help watch Alice while I got some rest in me. That was one of very many things I love about Arthur.

Cobb would watch Alice every once in awhile, bringing her over to play with James and Philipa on weekends, so the three of them were good friends. Eames would babysit too, if he wasn't in bed with another girl whom he met at a bar. He was his typical self mostly, but he was very helpful with Alice, and claiming himself to be the spoiled uncle. So when Alice had her fourth birthday, we threw a party and the rest of the team came. Since Arthur and I went into retirement, the team would visit each other on some occasions like birthdays and holidays.

"So, my little ginger." Eames said to me aloud, walking over to me with his beer bottle as the party went on in our flat. I was by the window, eating some of the cake as I watched the party going on. Alice was playing with Philipa on the floor near the coffee table with her new doll, and I could see James was trying to play with a doll but was loosing interest. Arthur was talking to some of the parents that were there, seeing the other kids eating cake on the floor and talking to each other.

"Hello Mr. Eames." I said aloud to him, seeing him grin at me as I ate another piece of cake and looked over at him. He had stubble on his face, yet it suited him rather well.

"How's my favorite forger?" Eames said aloud to me, taking a swig of his beer and sighing.

"Trying to live the normal life, staying under wraps you know that." I said back to him in reply and his nodded his head.

"I can see that, and your daughter inherited your looks and Arthur's seriousness." Eames explained to me and I grinned, looking at my daughter and seeing how he was trying to comb the dolls hair and not ruin it completely.

"How's the career coming with you, not too bad I hope?" I asked Eames in a casual tone of voice, as if it was another conversation we had in the past. But I looked over to see Eames was a bit sad, but only slightly since he was never one to show that he was weak.

"It's not the same without you and your husband over there, and let me just say I doubt you two are ones to play Mr. and Mrs. Married Couple quite so easily." Eames explained aloud to me, having me look at him with some confusion and wonder in my face. Eames was never one to say something so blunt to me to make a point, but what point was he trying to make.

"Oh come now, I can see that you both are not liking this life, you miss the old job." Eames said to me, and I looked over at Arthur. If he was suffering, he was hiding it real well like I was. It wasn't that I was I hated this life, it was fine by me. But Eames was right, it wasn't the same as the life I had before going into the dream world and being able to be a forger.

"We can't go back." I said to him in a bit of a low tone, wanting the conversation to be in between the two of us.

"Why not?" Eames asked in a light tone, taking another sip of beer.

"We already have a life outside of the job, and commitments." I explained to him in calmly.

"I can understand Arthur and commitments, but you? Come now, Darling." Eames said aloud in a smirk.

"We have Alice to think of, Eames. Our daughter, whom we want to have a normal life-" I started back at him, but Eames scoffed.

"Since when are we ever normal?" Eames asked me aloud and I glared at him,

"Non the less, I am not going to put our daughter in the line of fire." I explained to him, seeing him look at me now fully in the eyes instead at the party.

"And you think Cobb didn't think of that with his children?" Eames asked me in a serious tone, and I looked over at Cobb who was talking to Arthur in what looked like a normal conversation. Cobb knew about protecting his children, and he knew what it took to keep them safe.

"I know you and Arthur want to give Alice the world, and you wouldn't let anything happen to her. You two are very capable of taking care of her, even in our field." Eames said to me in his serious tone, and I hated how he would only be serious when he needed to be. I looked from Arthur and Cobb down to Alice, seeing her laugh at what James had said to her. Cobb walked over to James, scooping him up in his arms and twirling him around, making him laugh and and Arthur smiling from the sight.

"I can't afford to put Alice in danger." I said in a soft tone, thinking about that very moment where she could be in danger and that would be the very end of me. Both Arthur and Alice were everything to me, and I had to do anything and everything to protect them both.

"It's not a question of being able to afford it, it's a question of whether or not you will do anything for her." Eames said to me as I saw Arthur walking over to us both. Eames sighed and took another drink, I then knew the conversation was over for now and we were done with it.

"Mr. Eames, I do hope you're not bothering my wife." Arthur said in his usual low tone to Eames, who shook his head in return and finished his drink in his hand.

"Not at all, in fact I need to phone this lovely bird I met last night at the pub, I'm going to take her out before we go back to England in a week." Eames said aloud to him and then walked off towards the kitchen. I stayed silent, keeping my eyes on Alice as Arthur walked a bit more towards me, kissing the side of my head and wrapping a arm around my waist.

"He wasn't bothering you was he? You know how Eames is when he had a drink in him, or even when he's sober." Arthur asked me aloud with a small smile on his face. I shook my head and looked away from Alice over to him, smiling at how nice he looked in his dress shirt and slicked back hair. But he saw my face and he knew something was on my mind, his hand on my hip tightened slightly from seeing my face.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked aloud, a little more serious now and with a hint of concern. I nodded my head, a smile on my face as I leaned in to kiss him on the lips lightly. For now I wasn't going to bother him with my worries and fear.

For now at least.

"Did you have a good birthday Ma fille?" I asked Alice aloud as I tucked her in her bed in her room. She nodded her head as she clutched her stuffed animal in her hand. I was combing out her long brown hair with a comb and humming to her as she fiddled with her animal in her small hands.

"Yes." She replied to me and I nodded my head, feeling how soft her hair was and how long it was getting.

"Perhaps we should cut your hair because of how long its getting." I said in a teasing tone, and Alice shook her head with a huge smile on her face.

"No! I love my hair!" Alice said in a squeal and I giggled from her energy she was still having. As soon as she stopped laughing, she looked up at me with her head tilted to the side, like she was having a serious thought in her head as I combed her hair out onto the pillow.

"Mommy?" She asked me aloud, her light tone was echoing in her room. I looked down at her.

"Yes dear?" I asked her, waiting for her answer.

"Are you... triste?" She asked me aloud, some seriousness was in her voice as I thought about why she would ask me that. But then I realized she must of seen me at the party talking to Eames, and I looked rather sad at that moment.

"pas du tout, Alice. I'm not sad." I replied back to her, seeing her nod her head and then look down in her hands. She was then thinking again, whenever she would look at her stuffed animal, which was a Blue Whale, she was in deep thought. Alice looked back at me, her eyes brighter and a little bit more childish.

"When can I see Cousin James and Philipa again?" She asked, her voice lighter as I rearranged the blankets on top of her.

"très bientôt, I promise." I reassured her and she smiled widely at the answer. I then heard a knock at the door, looking behind me to see Arthur in the hallway looking in and smiling at myself and our daughter.

"Alright, time for bed Ma fille." I said to Alice, kissing her on the head and then tucking her in once more, getting up from the bed and walking over to Arthur.

"Goodnight Ma fille." Arthur said aloud, and I loved when he spoke french to her on a regular basis. Alice smiled at her father.

"Goodnight papa, goodnight maman." Alice said aloud, her french as light as a feather coming from her four year old brain. We smiled at her once more and closed the door, walking over to the living room and sitting on the couch. After putting the cake away in the refrigerator and throwing away everything else, the loft was rather empty and peaceful as we were wrapped up in each other's arms on the couch.

"The party was a success." I said aloud in a grin, thinking about how the party went and how the children were having fun, after the sugar high of course. But it was nice for it to be our little family again in the loft, no more noise and no more chaos.

"Georgie." I heard next to me and I looked over at Arthur, seeing him look over at me and having some concern on his face.

"I know something's going on in your mind, please tell me." He asked me softly, his arm around my shoulders pulling me closer to him to make me rest my head on his shoulder near his neck.

"Eames and I were talking today at the party." I started, hearing a small chuckle coming from Arthur.

"That's never good." He commented aloud with a light tone in his voice. I smiled from his remark, knowing that we could have a light moment in a serious conversation.

"He thinks, we should go back into the business." I said aloud, hearing nothing coming from Arthur, only a sigh. He was thinking about what I said, and I knew this kind of conversation with my husband was going to end up in a fight.

"I told him about our agreement to have normal jobs, for the sake of Alice. But he told me that Cobb is going through the job with James and Phillipa." I explained to him. I felt him rearrange himself a bit on the couch with me in his arms.

"Well, what do you think?" Arthur asked me, and I felt his head leaning against mine. I didn't want to be put in that position, to tell him my own opinion that would change everything. I thought about it for a second or two, on what to say to my husband.

"I don't want to put Alice in danger, neither of us want that." I said aloud in a bold tone, and Arthur nodded his head against mine.

"Our profession was dangerous, let alone risky and fatal with one false move." I kept going, and his hold on me tightened. I silently kicked myself, knowing I brought up the Las Vegas incident silently between us, and that was hell for Arthur to go through.

"But I know how both and I are suffering not having our old jobs." I ended, looking up at Arthur and seeing a look of question on his face.

"Arthur, I see how you don't sleep at night, and you have your totem in your pocket only for the sake and checking if we are in fact dreaming. You miss it, I know you do." I explained to him, seeing him think to himself for a moment or two and them realizing what I was saying is true.

"I don't want to put Alice in trouble, if anything were to happen to either you or Alice I could never forgive myself." Arthur said aloud to me as I tucked my feet under me on the couch, "But I know the both of us can handle the dream world and Alice."

"Can we Arthur?" I asked aloud in wonder, and he said nothing more. We never really thought about that situation before, being able to juggle both our profession that was dangerous, and our daughter in the same mix at the same time. Cobb could do it, he has done with even after Mal was long gone, but could we?

That night was another restless night for me to sleep, I kept dreaming I was back in the dream world, being able to do things out of my own control and having things move at my own will. I missed that ability, that power, and that control. But something else woke me up that night, something else than the typical dream or nightmare.

I felt something moving outside in the hallway, some very soft feet on our hardwood floor and I woke up to the very sound. Having well trained hearing was a perk for being a ex con, something to work with while on the job. At first, I thought the soft feet belonged to Alice and I was about to get up when I heard something else, something that made me freeze in the bed next to Arthur. It was the sound of metal, and I instantly knew: a gun.

Naturally and without even thinking, I reached under my pillow and grabbed my gun. AFter retiring I never felt safe without a gun close by, something to reassure my mind and body that I was indeed safe. But this time it was real, and I felt my fingers wrap around the gun tightly. I tried to stay still without making any sounds, I wonder if I should wake up Arthur. But As I looked over to him, I already saw him with his gun in his hand and a stern look on his face. He knew as well as I did.

We weren't alone, and we weren't safe anymore. Such much for a normal life.

Hey Guys, so here's the sequel you wanted so much! Tell is if you like it so far!

Ma fille = my Daughter

Triste = Sad

pas du tout = In No Way

très bientôt = very soon

Papa = Dad

Maman = Mom