It was Jessica's first day back. She woke up early in the morning. She took a shower, did her makeup, put her hair up into a cute up-do, and changed into her favorite pantsuit. Getting ready to go back to work was a feeling that Jessica had missed. Once she was finally ready she looked in the mirror, tucked in her blouse. Then a small smile appeared on her face.

When she got downstairs breakfast was already made. Usually Jessica would be the one to prepare breakfast for the children but today they decided to do something nice for her on this 'special' day. But Jessica was really shocked when she saw Sam sitting at the table.

"Sam?" Jessica says

He stands up and gives her a hug. "I decided I'd stop over and send you off for your big day. Are you ready?" He asks

Jessica nods with excitement. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Great." he kisses her cheek and smiles

After they have breakfast it was time for Sean and Olivia to head to school and for Jessica to drive up to the city for work. They all said their goodbyes and wish Jessica luck.

Jessica pulled into the parking garage of the office. When she got out she stood in front of the large office and looked around. She was at the bottom of the cement stairs that led to the large revolving doors. She wasn't really ready to walk up the stairs. From a distance she could see the exact spot where the woman stood in front of her with a gun and took her best friends life. It was a bit overwhelming as she walked up the stairs to see a slight red stain on the pale cement. Now that Jessica was back she really started thinking a lot about the worst day of her life. Jessica just tried her hardest to keep in all of her emotions.

Right as she walked into the main lobby the chaos began. People from different departments were everywhere running around. It was the type of chaos that she had missed. But, what was different for Jessica was the security guards that were everywhere. Metal detectors you had to walk through, and even more security guards that checked your bags. Jessica went through security then headed towards the elevator. Jessica saw lots of familiar faces and people heading towards the court rooms. Some waved, other greeted her. Everyone that noticed her knew exactly who she was. Some people started to stare. She just let it go and headed up to her office.

It all felt so weird. Jessica hadn't been here in months. When she got to her floor the secretary happily greeted Jessica.

"Jessica? Oh my gosh!" The lady says getting out from her desk and giving Jessica a hug.

"Hello, Mary. It's nice to see you." Jessica says hugging her tight

It was almost as if Mary was about to get teary eyes. No one had seen Jessica for months. In a way it was a relief seeing her.

"You look great. How are you?"

"I'm well... and you?"

"Now that you are back, great!"

Jessica and her finish their small conversation then Jessica walks past all the cubicals and makes her way to her bosses office. While she's walking down the office she passes Neil's old office. She stops and stands in front of it. His name tag was gone and now replaced with someone else's name. It hurt seeing that, but she knew that someone had to replace him. She then looks to her right to see her office. Her name was still on a tag. Through the window she could see that everything was untouched. As she gazed at both offices her boss came up behind her putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Jessica Lange..." he says

Jessica turns to him and gives him a fake smile. He looked behind her to see Neil's office. He sighs and gives her a hug as she softly begins to cry. Everyone could hear her whimper but then didn't stare.

"I'm sorry, Jessica."

//-//

Jessica's Birthday-

"Happy Birthday, mom!" Sean says as Jessica comes into the kitchen ready for work. Sean and Olivia put a candle on her pancake and gave her a hug.

"Happy Birthday!" Olivia says

Jessica gives both of them a hug and kisses the top of their heads. "Thank you!" She smiles

"You don't look a day over thirty, ma." Sean chuckles

"Well, thank you!" she says

"I'm sorry we couldn't have dinner with you and Sam tonight... I have work." Sean says sadly

"And I have conditioning for track. But we have this weekend!" Olivia says

"Oh, it's okay! My birthday isn't a big deal to me, really. But we are celebrating at grandma's this weekend. As long as you are there." Jessica says sitting down

"And we can have a birthday breakfast before work and school."

//-//

After work Jessica came home to an empty house. She was sad that she couldn't spend her birthday with the kids but they couldn't back down from work and track meetings. Jessica was excited to spend the night with Sam, though.  Jessica changed out of her work clothes and waited for Sam to pick her up.

Sam walked in and found Jessica sitting on the couch catching up on some work files.

"hello, birthday girl." he says kissing the side of her cheek from behind.

"hello!" She turns to him and gives him a kiss. She sets her papers down and stands up

"You look stunning, as always, miss Lange." He smirks

"Well thank you."

"Are you ready?"

She nods then wraps her arm around his.  They walk out of the house. When they get outside Jessica thought she'd be stepping into Sam's big truck, but instead there sat a red corvette.

"What is this?" Jessica says gazing at the car

"Its my car." he chuckles

"I didn't know you had one of these!" She giggles

"I haven't had it out in over a year, but I thought tonight was a special occasion so why not pull her out?" Sam walks around the car and opens the door.

"Where are we going?" he asks

"that's for me to know and you to find out."

Sam takes Jessica for a long ride. She had no idea where they were going. He just kept driving and driving but Jessica didn't mind. She was enjoying the ride. The top was down. The wind blew through her hair as a large smile went across her face. Sam turned to her as he was driving and fell in love. He couldn't get over how lucky he was.

After an hour drive they pull into a secluded restaurant that surprisingly had many cars in the lot.

"This place looks nice!" Jessica smiles

"Mhm, lets go in!"

Once they were seated they ordered their food and shared a glass of wine.

"Happy Birthday" Sam says handing Jessica a rectangular box with a red ribbon on the top.

Jessica takes the gift and smiles. "Oh Sam, you didn't have to get me anything... Thank you." She says sincerely

"Of course I did. Just open it." He smiles

Jessica slowly opens the box to find a beautiful pandora necklace.

Jessica gasps and admires the beautiful beaming necklace. "Sam, it's absolutely beautiful!"

"Just like you." He says

Jessica leans over the table and cups his cheeks leaving a soft kiss on his lips. "Thank you, love."

//-//

Dinner had been great. Jessica and Sam really enjoyed themselves, as always. They talked and laughed a lot, had a few drinks, and celebrated with some cake. When they night was over Jessica was super hyper. Sam walked her out to the car and opened the door for her but she stood there.

"Jess, are you okay?" he asks with a chuckle waiting for her to get in.

"You know, the best way to end my birthday would be to let me drive the car." She says with a smirk

"uhhh, I don't know." he says

"Come on!" she whines

Sam shrugs his shoulders, "Hell with it! Go easy!" he says tossing her the keys

"I will, I promise!"

Five minutes later-

"Jessica, you're going too fast! Please, slow down!!" Sam begs as he holds not the dash board

Jessica giggles and continues to floor it and let the wind blow through her golden locks.

"I'm having too much fun!" She says turning on the radio

"Jesus, you might kill us!" He says as she makes a sharp turn

"Oh come on!"

Sam chuckles and decides to calm down so Jessica could enjoy herself.

"Damn Jessica, even when you scare the shit out of me I'm still head over heels for you."

"Well good!"

//-//