"Three," she said, smiling at the images in her mind.

"Six," Joe countered, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Six?!" she exclaimed as her eyes flew open.

"Six," Joe repeated, pulling her closer. "Five boys and one perfect little girl-" he stopped and leaned down, brushing his lips lightly against Vanessa’s bare shoulder, "-who looks exactly like her beautiful mother."

Vanessa felt herself flush and it wasn’t from the steamy, bubbling water swirling around them in the hot tub. She tilted her head back so it rested on Joe’s shoulder and stared into the brilliant blue eyes that could light up her whole world. Reaching up, she guided Joe’s head down until their lips met.

Memories of the nights they would lie awake for hours, dreaming of their children and their future came flooding back and Vanessa found herself overwhelmed by her own emotions. Those dreamy late night ponderings had abruptly stopped one year ago, leaving a gaping hole in her heart and an even bigger one in Joe’s; she was certain of that.

After a year of denying herself even the briefest glimpse of the life she and Joe had planned to build together, Vanessa was almost scared to give herself permission to start dreaming again. Scared she would wake up and suddenly find the nightmare hadn’t ended after all.

As Joe reluctantly pulled away, Vanessa opened her eyes and knew it was real. The fear and uncertainty that had been etched on Joe’s face for the past year, was gone. In it’s place, peace and utter contentment.

"Four," Vanessa smiled up at him. "Three boys and a Daddy’s girl."

"And we can negotiate for the other two?" Joe asked, with a twinkle in his eyes and a wicked grin on his face.

"Let the negotiations begin," Vanessa murmured, closing her eyes and guiding Joe’s lips back to her own.

*****

Callie stood in the kitchen, looking out the window onto the deck, the phone cradled against her ear. She smiled watching Joe and Vanessa in the hot tub, thinking they looked deliriously happy. Seeing Joe lean down and tenderly kiss Vanessa’s shoulder, she turned away, suddenly feeling as if she were intruding on a very private moment.

Callie sighed heavily, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes, wondering how much longer she’d be on hold. Gazing around the cabin distractedly, her eyes landed on Frank and she smiled again. His brow creased in deep concentration and chewing on his lower lip, Frank was arranging a dozen red roses in a crystal vase.

Taking a step back, he critically assessed his work. Wrinkling his nose, Frank shook his head and mumbled something to himself, rearranging a few of the blossoms. Slowly, he walked in a circle, eyeing the vase from all sides and then smiled, apparently satisfied. Picking up the vase, he walked into the living room and placed it in the center of the table that had been moved to a spot near the fireplace. Returning to the kitchen, he looked at Callie and spread his hands questioningly.

"Well?"

"I’m still on hold," Callie rolled her eyes. Seconds later she straightened up, apparently reconnecting with an actual human being on the other end.

"Yes? You do?" she said, nodding vigorously at Frank. "Yes, we’d like it. No, just for tonight." She paused and grinned in amusement. "No there’s nothing wrong with our present accommodations, we’d just like to spend tonight at the lodge." Another pause. "No, just the two of us. The rest of our party will be staying here in the cabin tonight…. Great! Thank you!"

Callie hung up the phone and looked at Frank excitedly. "All set! Joe and Van will have the cabin all to themselves tonight."

"Perfect," Frank said, wrapping his arms around Callie’s waist. "Dinner should be delivered in ten minutes or so. As soon as we get that set up, we can sneak out." Glancing out the window at the hot tub, he saw Vanessa pull Joe towards her for a very long and very intimate kiss.

"Think they’ve noticed we haven’t joined them yet as planned?" Frank chuckled.

"Hardly," Callie laughed. "As far as they’re concerned the rest of the world doesn’t even exist – at least for tonight."

"As it should be," Frank murmured. After all they’d been through in the past year, no one deserved that kind of happiness more than Joe and Vanessa.

*****

Joe climbed out of the hot tub and extended his hand, helping Vanessa out. The two quickly scrambled inside, laughing at the shock of cold mountain air hitting wet skin. Standing in the small foyer, Joe took Vanessa in his arms and kissed her tenderly. Several moments later, Vanessa pulled away breathless and blushing slightly. Using the towels hanging by the door, they dried off and donned the robes that had somehow magically appeared there while they were in the hot tub.

"Frank?" Joe called out walking through the entryway into the kitchen. "Callie?" He stopped and frowned, turning to Vanessa. "I wonder where they are."

Continuing on into the living room in anticipation of heading to the bedroom to change clothes before going out to dinner, they came to an abrupt halt. Staring into the living room, Vanessa gasped her eyes wide in disbelief. While Joe’s expression initially matched hers, he seemed to recover more quickly than she did.

"Callie strikes again," he said with a smile as he scanned the room.

The lights had been dimmed, a fire was burning in the fireplace and a table, romantically set with dinner for two, had been placed nearby. A dozen red roses, in full bloom, nestled in a vase stood in the center of the table, flanked by two burning candles. Approaching the table, Joe sniffed the flowers appreciatively and then picked up a folded piece of paper on one of the china plates and read it aloud.

"That’s so sweet," Vanessa murmured, resting her head on Joe’s shoulder as she gazed at the crackling fire.

"Hey, I wanna know what we’re having for dinner!" Joe said, heading for the kitchen, dragging a giggling Vanessa behind him.

Pulling open the refrigerator door, Joe poked his head inside. "Wow! Oysters… and caviar! Where the heck did she find caviar in the mountains?!"

"Let me see!" Vanessa exclaimed, playfully nudging Joe with an elbow. "Mmm, strawberries in champagne and whipped cream for dessert."

"And another couple bottles of bubbly," Joe grinned, grabbing one as he shut the door. Taking a few steps, he opened the oven door and peered inside. "Filet mignon, lobster tails, baked potatoes, vegetables, rolls…" he reeled off the tempting offerings and then straightened up, turning back to Vanessa. "And the whole place to ourselves all night."

Gazing around the kitchen, Joe spotted the champagne flutes drying on the counter. Picking up two of them, he held them up along with the bottle of champagne, and stared at Vanessa.

"Why don’t we relax in front of the fire for a while?" he said huskily.

Vanessa grinned seductively, and planted a kiss on his lips. "You read my mind."