"Ally, I have a huge, dark handkerchief covering my eyes. Trust me. I can't see anything," Larry replied.

Ally waved her hand in front of Larry's blindfolded face, testing to see if he was telling the truth. Not satisfied with that, she made her way in front of him and stuck her tongue out at him. Still no reaction from Larry. Ally smiled and was finally satisfied that Larry couldn't see anything through the blindfold. She reached up to his lips and gave him a sweet little kiss.

Larry responded by taking her in his arms and deepening the kiss. He began stroking her hair gently and then brushed his hand against her cheek. He could feel Ally cozy up closer towards him. He didn't need his eyesight to know just how Ally McBeal liked to be held and touched. He ran his hands down her back and gave her a little pinch on her backside. Ally yelped and started giggling. Finally, she broke away from the kiss and said, "Come on! Let's go inside." There will be lots more kissing tonight anyway, she thought to herself.

Ally and Larry were standing outside their apartment door. Ally obviously had a surprise waiting for him inside and Larry was very curious as to what it was. Ally opened the door and led the blindfolded Larry inside.

"Okay Ally, can I take off the blindfold now?" Larry asked.

"Yes, you can," Ally replied. She helped Larry remove the blindfold. What Larry saw was a romantically lit apartment with rose petals scattered throughout and candles strategically placed around the room. It all looked incredibly romantic. Larry's eyes scanned the room and in the kitchen, he saw a candlelit dinner awaiting them. And just off to the corner, he saw a can of whipped cream.

Naughty Ally, he thought, smiling.

Ally ran over to the stereo, pushed a few buttons, and Barry White music began playing.

"Oh, this is subtle," Larry said. He smiled at Ally, since she was staring at him waiting for his reaction.

Ally laughed and walked towards him. "Renee is staying at Jackson's place tonight and I made her promise not to come back here under any circumstances. So we have the whole place to ourselves." Larry pulled Ally into his arms once again and simply stared deep into her eyes. Ally tried to figure out what he was thinking. Larry was a difficult person to read. Sometimes she just didn't know what was going on in that head of his. It made Ally excited, but nervous at the same time. Sometimes the way Larry looked into Ally's eyes sent shivers down her spine, just like it was doing right now.

"Larry, please. Tell me what you're thinking," she whispered.

Larry put his finger on her lips to keep her quiet, and then brought his own lips to hers once again and gave her a very passionate kiss. No words were needed here. Larry Paul would show Ally how he was feeling.

Larry was very happy that Ally had organized all this. Even though he had moved in a few weeks ago, they really haven't been able to be alone since Renee also lived there and Jackson was always there too.

Ally pulled away from Larry and said, "Oh, wait! There's still another surprise that you haven't seen yet!"

Larry chuckled. "Another surprise? Okay, let me have it."

Ally motioned for Larry to look over to the left. He did and what he saw was a brand new sofa laying there against the wall. He was very surprised to see it. A few nights ago, he had managed to drag Ally to Sears and he showed her the sofa he had picked out, but she had put her foot down and told him that she didn't want him buying it. But now, here it was.

"Ally! You got it!" Larry said, very surprised.

Ally laughed. "Yeah.... I could see that you really wanted it. I still don't understand why we need another sofa, but anything for you, sweetie."

Larry smiled and just shook his head. Ally McBeal was always full of surprises. It's one of the many reasons he loved her so much. They just stood there staring lovingly at each other. No words were needed for them to convey to each what they were feeling. Love was apparently very much in the air.

Finally breaking the silence, Ally said, "I made us some dinner..."

Larry starting walking towards Ally.

"It's -- it's right over there in the kitchen...."

Larry made his way closer to Ally.

"I -- I -- I really hope you like what I made....."

Larry cupped Ally's face in his hands.

"....because I worked really hard on it...."

Larry ignored Ally's ramblings and began kissing her with the same intensity as the first night they made love to each other. He wrapped his arms around Ally once again and they held each other tightly. Ally broke away from the kiss long enough to whisper into his ear, "I love you, Mr. Larry."

"I love you too, Ally," he replied.

He then took her hand in his and led her over to the sofa.

Dinner would just have to wait.

The next day...

Ally was humming to herself as she was working on some paperwork. She looked at the person sitting across from her and smiled. Although she was working, she wasn't in her own office. She was actually at Larry's office. Lately, they have been finding it very difficult to be away from each other. Larry smiled back at Ally and then continued to work on his own paperwork.

It was almost like they were high school students in study hall and were both expected to be on their best behavior. Hmmm, high school, Ally thought. The thought suddenly triggered something in Ally, but she didn't know what. My childhood. Why do I feel like I should be remembering something?

As for Larry, he felt that sense too..... that he should be on his best behavior, which is what kept him from shoving everything off his desk and making love to Ally right there and then. He grinned to himself and remembered the night before. Now every time he looked at that sofa, he would remember when he and Ally were on it...... or rather, what they were doing on it.

"So, Larry," Ally said quietly. "Can you tell me why you're smiling like that?" He had just been sitting there with a goofy grin on his face, and she wanted to know why.

"Oh! I, um...... I was just thinking about last night," he answered.

"Mmmm. And exactly what were you thinking about, Mr. Paul?"

"I was just thinking about the two of us making mad, passionate love to each other on our new sofa all night long."

"Larry!" Ally turned bright red and was shocked at his bluntness. She started giggling nervously.

She's so cute when she's all flustered, Larry thought, smiling to himself. He loved catching her off-guard like that.

Ally continued giggling and said, "That's what I love about you, Larry. You don't beat around the bush." She stood up from her chair and circled the desk, ending up right in front of Larry. He pulled her onto his lap and gave her a little kiss on the nose. Ally smiled and leaned towards him and was just about to give him her own kiss when.....

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Ally and Larry both looked up and were horrified to see........

Jamie.

Jamie walked in and smiled. "Hi Larry. Ally."

"What are you doing here again?" Ally blurted out. Immediately, she regretted the harshness in her voice, but she was very annoyed that Jamie was in her life again. Also, this was the first time she had seen Larry's ex-girlfriend since learning that she and Larry had kissed the last time she was here. It took Ally every bit of self-control not to run up to Jamie and start strangling her right there.

"Jamie, what are you doing here?" Larry repeated Ally's question, though not as harshly. But he, too, was upset about Jamie showing up like this again.

"I'm in town for a deposition," Jamie replied.

Yeah, right, Ally thought to herself. That's what she said the first time she was here. And it turned out that she was in town because she wanted to get back with Larry. Well, you can forget about that, you witch.

Larry raised his eyebrows, indicating that he also wasn't sure if he believed Jamie.

"I -- I know what you're thinking," Jamie said. "But it's the truth. I just had a meeting with my client at Nelson & Walsh and I'll be going back home to Detroit in a few hours. But I thought I'd stop by and say hello."

"How's Sam?" Larry asked, hoping to get an update on his son.

"Oh, he's doing okay. He misses his father," Jamie replied.

Ally looked over at Larry with a worried look on her face. She was afraid that Jamie was laying a guilt trip on Larry. In the back of Ally's mind, she was afraid that Larry would suddenly decide that he needed to go back to Detroit to be with Sam. Larry, in turn, looked over at Ally and smiled. A smile that reassured her that he wasn't going anywhere. Larry squeezed her shoulder and shook his head, indicating that she had nothing to worry about.

"Look, do you two have time for coffee?" Jamie asked, wanting to put a stop to Ally and Larry's show of affection. "I can tell you all about how Sam's doing."

"Uh.... I guess, yeah," Larry replied, looking at Ally, awaiting her approval. Ally smiled at Larry and nodded her head. She knew that he wanted to hear more about how his son was doing and she would never deny him that. Of course, this time, she would be sure to be there with Larry and Jamie...... right by Larry's side, so she would make sure that Jamie would keep her claws off of him.

Ally, Larry, and Jamie were seated inside the Goccia Cafe sipping their cappucinos. Jamie was updating Larry about his son -- how he was doing in school.... stuff like that. Larry was glad to hear that Sam was doing fairly well since leaving him in Detroit to move back to Boston.

Ally was a little distracted, though. She had caught sight of a calendar on the wall and today's date bothered her -- March 27. This date had some kind of special significance but she couldn't remember what it was. It was really bothering her.

"Ally? Ally? Earth to Ally?" Larry said, snapping her back into reality.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I was kind of in a daze," she replied.

"You sure were! Jamie just told me that Sam's going to be in his school play. Isn't that great?" Larry asked, smiling like the proud father he was.

"Yeah! That's really nice," Ally said. "Larry, didn't you perform in some productions in college? I think I remember you telling me about that."

"Oh, absolutely!" Jamie answered for Larry.

Ally looked at her, annoyed.

Jamie continued, "In college, Larry and I starred in a lot of productions together. We were love interests most of the time. We kind of became known around campus for being a couple..... in and out of the shows."

The silence that followed had to be one of the most awkward silences in the history of "awkward silences".

"Really?" Ally finally was able to get out. Well, since the conversation was headed in this direction, Ally decided to just ask the question that she'd been curious about all along. "So tell me, you two..... Exactly when did you both meet and how did you get together?"

"Ally..." Larry said.

"No, I want to know! I mean, we're all adults here and it's a fair enough question," replied Ally.

Larry immediately removed his glasses and started cleaning the lenses on his tie. Ally just sighed. It was Larry's way of showing that he was feeling very uncomfortable.

"Well," began Jamie. "Larry and I actually met in college. We met in one of the law classes our sophmore year. We hit it off right away and we began dating almost immediately."

Larry just nodded but didn't say anything.

"Oh, I see," Ally forced out. She was now desperate to change the subject. She realized that she did not want to hear about this after all. Unfortunately, Jamie and her big mouth just kept on talking.

Jamie continued, "I was having a hard time financially. It was so difficult trying to pay for tuition, books, and living on campus was so expensive. So it wasn't long before I moved in with Larry at his apartment. Larry wouldn't have it any other way. He always liked taking care of me. And this way, it saved us time and energy because Larry was always sneaking into my dorm room at night. And I was always sneaking off campus to his apartment to be with him at night. So when I moved in, it was great because we didn't have to travel far to be with each other as much as we wanted to."

Ally had a vision of herself dumping her steaming hot cappucino onto Jamie's head.

Ally's evil stare didn't faze Jamie, though. Engaged in her memories, Jamie started laughing and said, "Larry, that just reminded me! Remember that one night when you snuck into my dorm room. My roommate wasn't there and she wasn't supposed to come back that night because she said she'd be staying with her boyfriend at his place. But they ended up having a fight and she came back to our room only to find the two of us on her bed while we were....."

CRASH! That was the sound of Ally's cup falling off the table and onto the floor, shattering into a hundred tiny pieces. Ally didn't do that on purpose. Jamie's recollection was disturbing her so much that while holding her cup, her hand began shaking so bad that she accidentally dropped it.

Ally gasped when she realized what she'd done.

"Oh, honey, don't worry about that," Larry said, helping dry Ally off. A little bit of the cappucino had gotten on her blouse.

"I'm -- I'm sorry," Ally stammered, embarrassed. "I can be such a klutz sometimes."

"You don't have to apologize," Larry reassured her. He then looked at his ex and said, "Jamie." The tone in his voice clearly wanted Jamie to keep her mouth shut. He knew it was killing Ally to hear these things about their relationship.

"No, no. Larry, it's okay," Ally said. "I'm the one who asked the question. But um, can we drop it now?"

"Yes, let's do that," answered Larry, relieved.

Just then, Jamie began rubbing her right eye almost desperately. "Ow, ow, ow!" she cried.

"What's wrong?!" asked Larry.

"Oh, it's just my contact. It's burning my eye right now. This always happens from time to time."

A tiny smile formed on Larry's lips, which did not go unnoticed by Ally. "Just get those eyedrops you always carry around in your purse out and use it. That always worked for you," he told Jamie.

Jamie reached into her purse, pulled out the eyedrops that Larry had mentioned, and squeezed two drops into her eye. "Ah, that's better," she said. Then she looked at Larry and smiled. "Thanks, Larry. I can't believe you remember that."

Neither can I, Ally thought bitterly. This little coffee date couldn't end soon enough for her.

"Ally, what's wrong?" Larry asked.

It was later in the evening now. Jamie was long gone, back to Detroit. But Ally had barely said two words to Larry Paul ever since dropping Jamie off at the airport.

Ally was in the kitchen cleaning up after their dinner. "Nothing's wrong. What makes you think something's wrong?!" She slammed the refrigerator door shut.

"Well, you've been kind of quiet ever since we dropped Jamie off at the airport," Larry replied.

Just hearing that woman's name angered Ally even more. So much so that she opened the refrigerator door just so she could slam it shut again.

Larry raised his eyebrows.

"This is about Jamie, isn't it?" he asked.

"What? No!" Ally said, but she knew that Larry knew her well enough to know that it was exactly what was bothering her.

"Ally, you're upset about Jamie going on and on about my past relationship with her," he said.

Ally sighed. "Larry...." She gave up trying to put up a front and admitted everything. "Yes, okay, I'm upset about that. I know I shouldn't be because I'm the one who brought up the subject, but just hearing about the two of you....... I know that everyone has a past and you obviously had one with Jamie because you had a son with her......... I guess....... I don't know. I've told you this before. I'd like to think that I'm the first woman you ever looked at, much less........ But with Jamie........ You and her........ I -- I -- "

Larry quickly made his way to Ally and put his finger on her lips, to shush her. But Ally pulled away and simply said, "I just need to be alone tonight. Is that okay?"

Larry was taken aback. "Ally...."

"No, Larry. Please. Do you mind if you sleep on your sofa tonight by yourself? I just need time alone to collect my thoughts. It isn't just Jamie that's upsetting me. There's something else about today that's bothering me. Something I feel like I should be remembering. Something very upsetting, but I can't remember what it is right now."

"Okay," Larry finally said, after a few moments of hesitation. He didn't want to push Ally, even though the thought of spending the night apart from her was torturing him. But if it's what she wanted.....

Ally gave him a small, weak smile. "Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek good night, walked into her bedroom, and closed the door shut.

Larry was left all alone.

Inside her bedroom, Ally sat down at the edge of her bed and began rubbing her face with her hands. She was very tired. It had been a long, trying day and she just wanted to put an end to it and fall asleep.

But she couldn't.

She caught sight of her own calendar hanging against the wall. March 27. What happened on March 27? she thought.

She shook her head, desperate to get the question out of her mind. She began changing into her nightgown. It was a pretty nightgown that she had bought specifically for the occassion of Larry moving in with her. But since he wouldn't be with her that night, she decided to put it away and instead put on a pair of ordinary pajamas.

Once they were on, she looked around for her hairbrush so she could start brushing her hair. It wasn't on the dresser, though. Where was it? She looked under her bed but it wasn't there either.

Fortunately, Ally remembered that she had an extra hairbrush in her dresser drawer somewhere. She opened up a drawer and began rummaging around, looking for it. Her hand was searching the drawer underneath her folded clothes looking for that darn hairbush, but instead....... she pulled out an envelope.

What's in here? Ally wondered.

She opened it up and pulled out a few photographs.

Pictures, Ally thought to herself. She smiled as she started looking through them. They were old pictures of her growing up.

There was picture of Ally with her mom.

There was a picture of Ally with her dad.

And then there was a picture of Ally with..... Billy Thomas.

Billy, she thought.

Suddenly, she gasped.

Her head whipped towards the calendar again. March 27.

Then it hit her.

Today was the one-year anniversary of Billy's death.

The next morning, Larry awoke from the sofa. He didn't have the greatest nights of sleep. He missed Ally and he missed having her next to him. He looked over to the clock hanging on the wall to see what time it was. It was 7:30 a.m. His first instinct was to start getting ready for work. But then he remembered that it was Saturday. So he leaned back against the sofa. He began rubbing his eyes.

He was worried about Ally. She had seemed so upset the night before. He went over the day in his head and he knew that it was Jamie who had upset Ally so much. He wished that Jamie would have kept quiet and not gone on and on about his relationship with her. He knew that it upset Ally hearing about it, just as he would be upset hearing about Ally's past relationship with another man.

He finally stood up and made his way over to the bedroom. He wanted to check and see how Ally was doing. He quietly opened the door and peeked inside. He was surprised at what he saw.

Ally was asleep, laying on the bed.... but not facing the normal way. She was laying down sideways, like she had been sitting at the edge of the bed and just layed down and fell asleep. The lamp light was still on. Also, he could see that she was clutching tightly onto something in her hands.

He walked closer towards her and when he was close enough, he could see tear stains on her face. Obviously, she had cried herself to sleep.

A concerned Larry sat down next to her on the bed and was about to wake her up when he saw what she was holding in her hands -- pictures. He gently took them from her so he could see who was in the photographs. What he saw in the photo was a younger-looking Ally (around the time of high school). Next to her in the photo was a guy who was hugging her.

Who is that? Larry thought, a wave of jealousy washing over him.

He turned the photo around and there was some writing on it that said, Ally and Billy, September 1987.

Larry froze. He had heard a little about Billy Thomas. But only a little. All he knew is that he was an old boyfriend of Ally's who died sometime last year. He continued to look at the rest of the pictures and saw that they were all of Ally and Billy. He looked over at Ally once again and took notice of the tears on her face. He wasn't quite sure what to do next.

Luckily for him, Ally began to wake up. She moved around a little before finally lifting up her eyelids.

"Larry?" she said, sleepily. "What time is it?"

"7:30," he simply said. He didn't know what else to say.

Ally sat up and began rubbing her eyes awake. When she finally came into focus, she saw Larry sitting down next to her holding the pictures of Billy she had found last night.

"Oh!" she said. "Those -- those are....."

"Pictures of you and Billy," Larry finished for her.

Ally nodded. She was embarrassed that Larry had found her sleeping with them, but then the mention of Billy's name triggered her emotions into another direction and she started crying again.

This alarmed Larry and he took her into his arms. "Shhhh," he said. "Ally, what is it?"

She decided to just tell him. "Billy died one year ago yesterday," she whispered.

Larry now understood why she was upset, but he was confused as to why she seemed so torn up about it. He then realized that he really didn't know much about her past relationship with Billy. He hadn't been aware that they had known each other for quite awhile, as the photos of a younger Ally and Billy had indicated.

Larry rocked Ally back and forth and stroked her hair, comforting her. He wanted to be strong for her, even though a sense of dread and hurt was creeping into his own body.

Later that morning at around 9:00 a.m, Ally and Larry were sitting down on the couch in the living room. They had just finished having a quiet breakfast together. They barely said two words to each other besides, "Can you pass the cream, please?" But neither had minded the silence so much. They were both thinking about things.

But now on the couch together, the silence was getting awkward. They both knew that they needed to talk. Finally, Larry decided to just go ahead and ask Ally about Billy, very similar to the way Ally had asked about him and Jamie the day before.

Larry knew that he needed to ask her about Billy Thomas. They couldn't ignore the issue. Not after what had happened earlier that morning.

"Ally, do you want to tell me about Billy?" he asked quietly.

"He died last year," Ally said flatly, almost bitterly.

The bitterness in her voice took Larry aback. He tried to continue to fill the dead air in the room. "I noticed in the pictures that you were both younger, like in high school or something. Did you meet him in high school?"

Ally shook her head no but didn't respond.

Larry was getting annoyed. Why was Ally so upset about some dead guy who she wasn't even with anymore when he died? He told her so.

And that was a mistake on Larry Paul's part.

Ally's eyes flashed in anger. She looked over to him and pointed a finger at him. "Don't you dare trivialize my relationship with Billy!! You didn't know him!!! He was everything to me! And no, we didn't meet in high school. We both knew each other since we were 8 years old. We were together through our pre-teen years, through junior high, through high school, and through college. That was practically half of our lives, Larry. Do you get that?! So don't you trivialize Billy's memory, do you hear me?!"

Ally was screaming by that point. As for Larry, he was completely caught off-guard. He was feeling confused, hurt, and most of all -- jealous. He hadn't been aware of the depth of Ally's relationship with Billy until now.

Ally continued on with her rant. "But don't worry. You have nothing to worry about becuase he's dead. He poses no threat to you. But what about me?! Jamie is still very much alive and she's the mother of your son. That's such a strong bond. How do I know that one day you're not going to wake up and decide that you want to be a family with them again?? And then you'll leave me. And you'll move back to Detroit. And.... and...... and Billy's dead." She burst into tears again.

But this time, Larry did not reach out to comfort her. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. He was still shocked to learn about how deep Ally's relationship with Billy really was. How could he compete with that? He couldn't. He stood up to leave.

"Larry, where are you going?" Ally cried after him.

"I need some air," he replied flatly. With that, he walked out the front door and slammed it shut behind him.

And now Ally was the one left all alone.

The late afternoon hours were now approaching and Larry was still nowhere to be seen. Ally hadn't left the apartment at all that day. She just moped around and tried to collect errant thoughts. She was mad at Larry for leaving her like that. But she was also very confused as to why he was acting the way he did. She should be the one feeling upset, not him.

Before she could think anymore, she heard the front door open. She looked over and saw Larry walk in. His hair was a little messy and he looked tired. He looked at Ally and was surprised to see her still sitting on the couch, just as he had left her that morning. He closed the door behind him, walked into the living room, and took a seat next to Ally without saying a word.

To break the silence, Ally finally said quietly, "Let's not yell, okay?"

Larry just nodded.

"Okay, I'll start," she began. "There are a couple of reasons I'm upset. First and foremost, it's the one-year anniversary of Billy's death and...." Larry took off his glasses and began cleaning them on his shirt. Ally noticed that whenever she mentioned Billy's name, Larry got upset. ".....and," she continued, "I'm also upset about the whole Jamie thing. Spending time with her yesterday and hearing all about your relationship with her just brought back my jealousy and insecurities. I guess I still view her as a threat to us."

"Ally," Larry began, speaking for the first time. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about there. I love you. You know that. I'm the one feeling jealous and insecure."

"But why?" she asked. "Because of Billy? He's gone now. There's nothing to be jealous or insecure of."

"Now that's not true," Larry replied. "Hearing you talk about him...... I never realized just how connected the two of you were. I just always assumed he was another one of your old boyfriends that didn't make the cut. But finding out that the two of you had gone way back to when you were kids.... I don't know. Why didn't you tell me more about him before since he was so important to you?"

Ally shrugged her shoulders. "Because that part of my life is over now." She looked at him, hoping to see some type of reaction on his face. But his face was blank.

"Larry, I don't want you to feel insecure about my feelings for you. About my love for you."

"And I don't want you to feel insecure about my love for you. You know, Ally, you talk about feeling threatened by Jamie. But you really don't have to be. Jamie and I never shared that kind of great love that I'm assuming you did with Billy. I did love Jamie and we did have a son together, but it was nothing like the love I have for you. It can't even begin to compare. What I'm upset about is that I don't think the love you feel for me could ever compare to the love you had and may still have for Billy." Finally, Larry had managed to put into words how he was feeling.

And Ally finally understood what was going on with Larry Paul.

She nodded her head. "You're right," she whispered. "I could never compare the love I have for you with the love I had for Billy."

Larry sucked his breath in. He didn't like where this was going.

"Because," Ally continued, taking his hands in hers, "there is no comparison. I have never loved anybody the way I love you, Larry. The love I feel for you is filled with hope for the future. What Billy and I had..... it became familial more than anything else. He was the only connection I had to my childhood. We grew up together, we had that childhood bond. But our relationship as a couple was one big dead end. It had run its course. And even if he were still alive today, I'd still be head over heels in love with you. Please don't ever doubt that. Please."

Larry let his breath out, relieved to hear Ally say those words.

"You know what?" Ally said. "I think we have to realize that the past is the past. We can't ignore it because it's what has shaped us into the people we are today. Billy and I once shared a love and it helped me become the person I am right now. And you and Jamie once shared a love that produced a son, making you the father that you are right now. And now what we should do is look ahead towards the future. And my future is with you. And I hope your future is with me."

Ally almost started giggling because she could see tears welling up in Larry's eyes. It wasn't often that he cried, so she actually loved seeing it.

"Well, Ms. McBeal," Larry said. "What you just said was so profound, so true, and so unbelievably cheesy."

Ally began laughing through her own tears. "I can get pretty corny, can't I?"

"Yes, you can," smiled Larry. "But I wouldn't have you any other way." He took her into his arms and gave her a sweet kiss.

Nighttime had arrived and Larry was sitting up in bed waiting for Ally. He reached over to the nightstand and picked up the phone. He thought he'd call his son, Sam, and say good night.

"Hello?" answered a little voice on the other end of the line.

"Sammy, buddy! It's your dad. How are you doing?"

"Hi, dad! I'm doing good. Did mom tell you about the school play I'm going to be in?"

"She sure did, buddy," Larry answered. "Congratulations on that."

"Hey, maybe you and Ally can come here to Detroit and watch me in it!" Sam said with enthusiasm.

Larry smiled, happy that his son included Ally in his request. "That's a great idea, Sammy. I'll tell Ally about it."

"Cool," replied Sam.

"Okay, buddy. It's past your bedtime now so you should be sleeping. I just wanted to say good night."

"Good night, dad."

"Good night," Larry said.

Ally walked in as Larry was hanging up the telephone. "On the phone with Sam?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah, actually, how did you know that?"

"Oh, just a hunch. You're a terrific father and I figured you'd want to say good night to Sam."

"Ally, it's almost scary how much you know me."

Ally smiled again and got into bed next to him. Larry helped cover Ally underneath the covers with him. She layed her head against his chest and wrapped her arm around him.

"What a day," she said.

"You're telling me," replied Larry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..... Oh! I almost forgot to show you." Ally untangled herself from Larry's embrace and reached over the side of her bed and pulled out a beautifully framed photograph of herself and Larry.

"Oh, wow," Larry said. "When did you make this?"

"Today when you were gone," she answered. They both stared at the photo for a little while. "You're a handsome man, Mr. Larry."

"I know," Larry replied.

Ally hit him across the chest with her hand. "Funny. Your modesty is one of the things I love about you."

"And your showcases of violence is one of the things I love about you," said Larry, rubbing his chest trying to take away the pain.

Ally giggled, but then caught sight of something on top of her dresser. She saw the old photographs of Billy laying there. She got up out of bed so she could get them. Larry raised his eyebrows when she did.

Ally looked over at Larry and smiled. Then she opened up her drawer and put the photographs back where she had found them.

"Billy's the past," she said. She closed the drawer door shut.

Then she took the framed picture of her and Larry and put it on top of the nightstand.

"And you're the future," she said.

She hopped back into bed and cuddled up next to a smiling Larry.

"I love you, Ms. McBeal," he said.

"And I love you, Mr. Larry," she answered.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, both looking forward to the wonderful future they knew awaited them.