Mary wakes up to the sound of Ember giggling downstairs and the smell of bacon. She's incredibly tired and extremely confused. It's Saturday and that means that Ember should still be asleep and that Alec should be out somewhere with Elena.

She lays there in the warmth of the covers for a moment to make sure that she's not just living in her head again. Often times, she imagines that Alec is home and that he's making an effort again because it makes her feel better and it's something that she misses.

Ember giggles again and Mary knows that she's not just fantasizing again. She peels herself out of bed and brushes her teeth and fixes her hair before heading downstairs to see what all the laughter is about.

When she makes it to the kitchen she nearly cries. She doesn't know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't Alec. Mary stops walking instantly because she's not entirely sure that she's not dreaming.

It doesn't matter though because in seconds she's practically running to him and throwing her arms around his torso. Her eyes are glossy and her lips are slightly trembling because he's really here. She smells his familiar cologne and hears the ever present and unforgettable beat of his heart as his arms hold her close to him.

He's real and he's here in the kitchen and holding her like he never left in the first place. She's not looking at him but she can practically feel his smile as he chuckles lightly and his chest vibrates beneath her, "I'm here."

Mary's so ecstatic that he's home because it tells her that there's a part of him that still loves her and Ember, that Elena hasn't taken all of his heart from her. And, if he's here and not with her, that must mean that he's done with Elena because he's never ever home like this.

Her heart swells with love. She knows that she shouldn't be so happy and so willing to forgive him, but she can't help it because it's been so long since he's been home and she's not willing to throw the chance away because he might not be back again.

He releases his hold on her and she does the same, but not before she kisses him like he's just come back from the war. Again, she's pleasantly surprised because he actually kisses her back and she feels like he's back for good this time.

She's bursting with energy, but she's calmed down slightly because she's gotten past the initial shock. When he pulls away, her eyes take in every single little detail because she doesn't want to forget this, even if he ends up going back to Elena at one point or another.

A smile tugs at the corners of her lips when she sees what he's wearing, "You're wearing my sweater."

The very same gray sweater that she'd given him for his birthday a few months after Ember was born and the same sweater that she told him looked good on New Year's Eve. It hurts to think that he wore it for Elena a few weeks ago, but she's happy to see him in it now because it means that he's trying and that's all she's wanted for so long.

Alec shrugs, a small smile on his lips as his hands find her waist and squeeze gently, "It's cold out and I know that you like it."

He leans down and kisses her softly and Mary feels like she must have done something wonderful to have his attention like this again. She doesn't really think much about what he's said and how it's a little off from how he's treating her because she's caught up in thoughts of the three of them finally being a family again.

This time Ember is paying much more attention to her parents because she's almost done with her pancakes and she makes an adorable face when she catches them kissing, "Eeewww!"

Mary and Alec laugh as they break apart and Mary takes the lead on apologizing for their 'grossness.'

"Sorry sweetie."

She leaves Alec to finish making breakfast because she knows that he doesn't like it when she tries to help. He likes to do things on his own and it irritates him a little because sometimes she gets in the way on accident.

Ember excitedly tells her about how much food her daddy made her and how good it was and Mary listens with her hand under her chin and a bright smile on her lips. The day that she's expected has already turned on its head and she's looking forward to the hours that remain.

In a matter of minutes, Alec's handing her a plate of pancakes topped with strawberries and loads of maple syrup and Mary's amazed that he remembers her favorite breakfast after being away for so long.

She doesn't say anything about it though because she knows that it might ruin his mood and she'd like him to continue being the Alec that she remembers for as long as possible. He makes himself a stack and sits across from her only to surprise her again by holding her hand from across the island.

It feels like it was when they were just married and she really hopes that Alec isn't just playing with her heart because he's bored. Breakfast feels like it ends far too quickly and Mary's helping Alec with the dishes only to spend some more time with him because she misses him so much more than she thinks that he knows.

Ember's upstairs trying to put on clothes for the adventure she knows is coming, but Mary's still at a loss for what else Alec's got up his sleeve.

"So, what's little miss Ember so excited about that she practically teleported to her bedroom?"

Alec laughs as he hands her another dish to dry, "We're taking her to the zoo. She was going on and on about that movie you let her watch and all the animals, so I thought it would be nice to let her see some exotic animals in person."

Mary's eyes light up because she loves the zoo and she loves that Alec thought of the idea just because she was telling him how she liked the animals in Tarzan.

She stops drying dishes because she can't help but to stare at him with bright eyes and a matching smile. She's been waiting to see this side of him again for what felt like an eternity and she's still a little amazed that it's happening.

Alec goes to hand her another clean plate and catches her staring. The corners of his lips quirk up and into an incredibly cute smile, "What?"

Mary shakes her head, "Nothing. You're just...I've missed this so much."

His expression softens considerably because he knows that she's not overlooking his affair just because he's home and acting like himself again, "I know. I'm sorry, Mary."

He puts the dish back in the sink and wraps his arms around her, his lips pressing to the top of her head. She wants to tell him not to tell her that he's sorry unless he really means it, but she can't seem to find her voice and instead hugs him tightly in hopes that he'll stay.

Alec gently sways her back and forth for a little while before finally pulling away and offering her a soft smile, "I'll finish this. How about you go upstairs and get ready for the day and let me take care of Ember?"

She hesitates because she loves helping her little girl pick out her clothes and making her laugh while she does so, but this gives her an opportunity to spend more time in the shower and actually wear the clothes and makeup that she wants without having to rush and pick something.

"Are you sure? She's really indecisive."

He laughs lightly and nods, "Yes, I'm sure."

Mary bites her lip for a moment before deciding that it won't hurt to take some time for herself for once. Ember's been dying to spend time with him anyway and she'll love showing him her new collection of outfits that she got for Christmas.

"Okay."

Alec kisses her sweetly once more before letting her go and the butterflies swarm in her stomach don't stop, even as they sit in the car and drive for an hour to get to the zoo. Ember's practically bouncing out of her seat by the time that they manage to park the car and she nearly drags Mary and Alec to the front entrance.

Mary's smile still hasn't faded because Alec is still treating her like she's his wife and not just someone he casually lives with every now and then. Ember's ecstatic both because of the fact that her father is home and the fact that both of her parents are happy and not fighting. Plus, there's also the added bonus of the zoo.

They're standing in line now and Alec's holding Mary's hand while Ember holds Alec's other hand and lists all of the animals that she wants to see.

"I wanna see the monkeys, and the penguins, and the otters, and the lions...can we see all of the animals, mommy?"

She's still in the habit of asking her mommy when she has a question instead of her daddy, but thankfully Alec doesn't really seem to mind.

Mary nods as she hands the tickets to the lady up front and she smiles down at Ember once she gives them the all clear, "Of course we can sweetheart. Whatever you want, just tell us where you want to go first."

At first it looks like she's dead set on seeing the monkeys, but then she sees the panda's and she's changed her mind in an instant.

"I wanna see the pandas first!"

Alec laughs and leads them towards the panda enclosure, "Pandas it is!"

Ember's entranced with the large, fluffy animals and they end up standing there and staring at the peaceful creatures for nearly thirty minutes. Ember's original plan to go in order of the animals she liked the most ends up failing because every time she sees an enclosure she's transfixed and needs to see whatever animal is inside before they do anything else.

They've seen the pandas, the monkeys, the cheetahs, the elephants, and the giraffe's, and now they're standing in front of the lion enclosure and watching the lions play with some of their giant toys.

Ember's got her hands on the glass and wide eyes as she watches the large cats play and lounge around in the sun. She's never seen so many big animals in her life before and she's loving every second of it.

Mary's leaning against Alec's side with her head on his shoulder and a soft smile on her lips, "Do you remember when you took me to the zoo for the first time on my birthday?"

Alec hums and his smile grows as the memory plays inside his head, "You were so amazed by everything and practically dragged me around all day because you didn't want to miss anything. And when we were leaving, it started pouring so we got soaked, but you didn't mind because it was fun running to the car and pulling into a random restaurant to escape the rain and have a nice dinner."

She's smiling from ear to ear now, "And you bought me roses because you still felt bad about the rain when it was supposed to be a sunny day. It was, and still is, one of my favorite memories. Even with the rain and the colds that we both had the next day."

He looks to Ember and glances at Mary, "She's just like you, you know."

Mary blushes even though she knows that it's true, "She is, but she looks more like you."

He's about to say something along the lines of 'but she's got your beautiful smile' but Ember interrupts their little moment because the little lion cub has just come out from hiding and she thinks it's adorable.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look!"

Mary lifts her head from his shoulder and they look at each other and smile before turning their attention towards Ember and the glass wall in front of them.

She looks at her parents and then back at the little cub with eager eyes.

Her mommy's the first to say something, "She's cute, but not as cute as you are."

Alec sticks to something that only Mary can hear because he whispers it in her ear, "Like I said, she's just like you."

They stand there watching the little lion cub stumble around her surroundings before Ember decides that she finally wants to see the otters. She runs in front of them and turns her head back every few seconds to make sure that she can still see them because she doesn't want to get lost.

She forgets after a little while though and makes it to the glass tank long before her parents. Ember realizes this after about a minute of looking around and waiting for them to pop around the corner at any second.

She's about to panic a little when a familiar voice says her name. Ember turns around and smiles because she sees her teacher standing by the tank with a soft pretzel in his hand.

Ember beams and runs over to hug his legs, "Mr. Styles!"

Harry hugs her with his free arm and laughs lightly, "Hi Ember! What are you doing here all by yourself? Where's your mommy?"

Ember frowns and looks down at her hands, "I dunno. I forgot to slow down and I lost her and daddy."

The moment she says daddy he can't help himself and asks, "Your daddy's here too?"

She nods excitedly, "Yes! He made breakfast and drove me and mommy all the way here!"

He frowns because that's something that he wasn't expecting to hear at all. Alec didn't really have a clean slate in his mind because Mary's told him a lot over their first dinner together and over the phone.

His lips part and his eyes soften, but he doesn't get to say anything because Mary and Alec run around the corner and Mary sweeps Ember into her arms. She presses a kiss to her cheek and tells her how worried that they were and how happy she is that she's okay before she sees Harry standing there rather awkwardly.

She's incredibly happy to see him, but she feels incredibly bad because she's here with Alec and she knows how much that he likes her.

Alec's looking at him like he's a predator and he's just tried to kidnap his daughter. Harry hasn't said anything because this is the first time that he's seen her husband and he's not exactly pleased to meet him.

Thankfully, Mary clears the air before Alec can throw a punch.

"Harry?"

Alec looks at Mary and raises his eyebrow, although it looks less like 'who's Harry?' and more like 'are you kidding me?'

"Harry?"

The corners of her lips lift up in a nervous smile as she shifts her hold on Ember, "Alec, this is Ember's teacher, Mr. Styles. Harry, this is my husband, Alec."

Alec doesn't seem to notice how uncomfortable she is but Harry notices and, despite how much he already doesn't like him, he pretends like he doesn't know a thing about him and smiles as he sticks his hand out. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Wood."

It takes everything that he has in him not to shout at him and let him know how horrible he is and how he doesn't deserve someone like Mary.

Alec's hesitant, but Mary gives him a look and he smiles and shakes Harry's outstretched hand, "You too."

He's still looking at him like he wants to kill him for being near his daughter and Harry clears his throat awkwardly, "I was just looking at the otters when I noticed that she was here alone. I was just about to try and find the two of you, but you beat me to it."

Alec relaxes a little, even though he should have been fine after Mary said that he was Ember's teacher, and Mary smiles softly.

"Are you here by yourself?"

Harry smiles and shakes his head, "Nope, I'm with my sister and her daughter Isobel. Tomorrow is Isobel's birthday and I wanted to surprise her today. I'm guessing Ember wanted to see the animals from Tarzan in real life?"

Alec's not really sure how he knows that Ember watched Tarzan and loved the animals in it, but he doesn't get to say anything about it because Mary is already talking.

"That's sweet of you. Yes, actually. Alec decided that we should treat her with her first trip to the zoo because she was so excited to tell him about the animals."

He wants to stay and talk to her some more, but he knows it isn't a good idea so he smiles and makes an excuse to leave.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your time, Ember. I've got to go bring Alice this pretzel or she might yell at me."

Harry laughs lightly and Mary asks, "Why would she yell at you?"

He smiles and his dimples appear, "She's pregnant and she gets a little cranky when she's craving something and she can't get it right away."

Mary smiles because she understands and she remembers how wonderful and uncomfortable she was when she was pregnant with Ember.

"Right, at least you know how to handle the situation. Tell her I said congratulations."

There's a new light to his eyes now and only Mary notices it, "I will. I'll see you in class on Monday, Ember!"

Ember waves as he starts to walk away, "Goodbye, Mr. Styles!"

He laughs lightly as he returns the gesture, "Goodbye, Ember! It was nice to meet you Alec, enjoy the rest of your day!"

The last part killed him to say, but he has to be nice because it's in his nature and because he doesn't want to upset Mary when she looks so happy.

As soon as he's out of sight, Alec gives Mary a look that's supposed to make her feel guilty because he still thinks that she did something with him when they went out to dinner and now he somehow knows that she watched Tarzan with Ember.

Mary sets Ember down and frowns because everything was going so well until Alec decided to get incredibly jealous and even a little possessive when he saw Harry.

She sighs before clarifying, "He knew about that because he invited us to a party and I told him that's what we were watching. Alec, I already told you, nothing's happened and nothing will happen because I'm married to you and I meant my vows when I said them."

He can see the happiness leaving her eyes and he finally accepts that she hasn't done anything with Ember's teacher, "I'm sorry. It's just-you're my wife and I can't help being a little wary of other men."

She doesn't mention how he cheats on her and she doesn't constantly accuse him of it, hell, she's only said something a few times, because it's not worth it and she knows that it will just make him angry for the rest of the day.

She's upset for a little while after that, but Alec turns on the charm and has her feeling like she's on cloud nine in what seems like no time. It rains again when they're leaving and Mary feels like she's eighteen again.

This time they go home though because Alec wants to make dinner and Ember wants to go home now that she's hopped off of the excitement she got from seeing all of the animals.

He makes Mary's favorite: grilled salmon with a white bean and arugula salad and she's practically over the moon with happiness. Ember of course gets chicken strips and mac and cheese because she doesn't like salmon and she's only five years old so it's appropriate.

Alec actually does the dishes and even helps her bathe Ember and put her to bed. Everything's going so well and she's almost on edge because she knows that something is going to go wrong eventually. Sure, there was the jealousy thing with Harry at the zoo, but that wasn't really that bad and he tried really hard to make up for it afterwards.

The affection doesn't end after dinner though and Mary's so relieved because she hasn't been intimate for a long time and it does get frustrating every now and again. Alec's incredibly sweet to her, leaving kisses all over her skin and telling her that she's beautiful, even when he reaches the stretchmarks on her stomach.

She's so caught up in the way that he's being that she doesn't care that he's been with Elena so much because he's with her now and that's all that matters.

He's taking things slow and she feels like she's on fire with his lips on her skin and his hips meeting hers about every ten seconds.

Her breath catches when he shifts his weight and hits a spot that drives her crazy and her grip on his shoulders becomes almost painful as that blissful feeling grows with each move of his hips.

But then he kisses her neck and her name isn't the one that comes out of his mouth.

"Elena..."

And suddenly she's not happy anymore because there it is. He's making love to her and he's thinking about his lover instead.

She's too far gone though and she can't force herself to not enjoy the pleasure he's giving her because it's been so damn long and so she doesn't stop him.

Her mind does wander elsewhere though and instead of seeing his blue eyes and blonde hair, she sees pretty green eyes and chestnut curls. And she feels so fucking guilty for thinking about him even though Alec isn't even thinking of her.

But it means so much more to her than it does to him and she hates that she's thinking about someone else while she's physically with her husband and he's the one that's making her feel good.

And it's so good to finally relieve all of that sexual tension, but she can't bring herself to revel in it for long because she's imagined that she's cheating on Alec and that just twists the knife even further than Alec has already twisted it.

He gets it together and says her name the second time around, when he finally reaches that toe curling release, but she's already gone and she can't stop thinking about what she's just done.

He kisses her neck again and whispers that he loves her against her skin, but she knows that it's a lie and that happiness that she's held onto for most of the day is long since gone.

Nevertheless, she tells him that she loves him too and she lets him cuddle with her. Her guilt for fantasizing only multiplies by the minute and it's practically eating her alive after only a few minutes.

Her ring feels like it's burning her skin and she has to take it off because it just feels so wrong and she won't be able to sleep with it on tonight.

She removes the rings from her finger and sets them on her bedside table. The feeling doesn't go away though and she hates that she feels this way when she really hasn't even done anything at all compared to all of the crap that Alec's done.

Unfortunately, he notices that she's taken her rings off and he wants to know why, "Why'd you take your rings off?"

Mary stares at the wall and tells him part of the truth, "They were a little uncomfortable."

And he should know that she can't sleep if something's bothering her, but it sounds like he just doesn't care as he mumbles an 'okay' into her neck and holds her a little tighter.

He falls asleep in minutes, but she lays awake for hours, just inches away from her phone. She doesn't text Harry though because she knows that it will only upset him further because she'll slip and end up telling him what happened.

She falls asleep around three A.M. and wakes to an empty bed and a note on Alec's pillow.

I'm sorry.

She wants to scream and to cry her eyes out, but instead she just crumples the note and curls up into the covers in hopes that she'll sleep the pain away because, right now, she feels like the biggest idiot on the planet.